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COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY STUDIES IN ENGLISH 
AND COMPARATIVE LITERATURE 



DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN 
DRAMA 



COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS 
SALES AGENTS 

New York: 
LEMCKE & BUECHNER 
30-32 West 27th Street 

London: 

HUMPHREY MILFORD 

Amen Corner, E.C. 



DISGUISE PLOTS IN 
ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

A STUDY IN STAGE TRADITION 



BY 



VICTOR OSCAR FREEBURG, Ph.D. 

INSTRUCTOR IN ENGLISH IN COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 



mi 




COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS 
1915 

All rights reserved 



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Copyright, 1915 
By Columbia University Press 



Printed from type, September, 1915 




THE'PLIMPTON-PRESS 
NORWOOD-MASS'U'D'A 



OCT 14 1915 

©CIA411973 



This Monograph has been approved by the Depart- 
ment of English and Comparative Literature in Columbia 
University as a contribution to knowledge worthy of 
publication. 

A. H. THORNDIKE, 

Executive Officer. 



PREFACE 

In this book the dramatic construction and stage repre- 
sentation of the plays of Shakespeare and his brother 
playwrights have been inspected from a new angle of 
observation; and it is believed that the results obtained 
may help the reader to understand more completely the 
practice of Elizabethan playwrights, the nature of their 
medium, and the tastes of their audience. 

It is hoped that the illustrative significance of the four 
hundred and twenty-five plots here discussed may in some 
measure palliate the offense of many omissions. It should 
perhaps be explained that certain disguise situations, even 
though occurring in well-known plays, have been deliberately 
omitted in favor of other situations which served better to 
illustrate the point being made. Incidentally, this com- 
parative study of Elizabethan plays in a new alignment 
has revealed a number of inter-relations which are here 
discussed for the first time. 

I take pleasure in expressing my obligation to Doctor 
Orie L. Hatcher of Bryn Mawr College, who suggested the 
subject and has offered many constructive criticisms of this 
work; to Doctor Winifred Smith of Vassar College, who kindly 
loaned me her translations of the commedie delV arte in the 
Scala collection; and to Miss Vera Parsons for pointing out 
a great many disguise plots in Italian novelle. To Professor 
Brander Matthews and to Professor G. C. D. Odell, who have 
read the manuscript, I am greatly indebted for careful and 
illuminating criticisms. To my colleague Professor Francis 
B. Gummere I wish to express my heartfelt thanks for warm 



viii PREFACE 

sympathy and encouragement. To a patient and inspiring 
teacher, Professor Ashley H. Thorndike, more is due than 
can easily be expressed. His extensive and exact knowledge 
of the drama has often been appealed to, and never in vain; 
and his searching comments have frequently stolen their 
way bodily into the pages of this book. 

V. O. F. 
Haverford College, 
January 25, 1915 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I Introduction 1 

II The Technic of Dramatic Disguise 5 

III The Origin and Extent of Dramatic Disguise 31 

IV The Female Page 61 

V The Boy Bride 101 

VI The Rogue in Multi-Disguise 121 

VII The Spy in Disguise 139 

VIII The Lover in Disguise 177 

IX Conclusion 199 

Appendix A. List of Critical and Historical Works 205 

Appendix B. List of Plays, Novels, Romances, and Ballads 211 
Index 231 



DISGUISE PLOTS 
IN ELIZABETHAN DEAMA 

CHAPTER I 
INTRODUCTION 

The use of disguise is an old stratagem in literature as 
well as in life. Achilles lived for a time undisturbed with 
his love because he was disguised as a maiden. Apollo in 
the stress of battle appeared in the guise of a common soldier 
and encouraged his favorite hero. Odysseus returned from 
his wanderings in the shape of a beggar in order that he 
might not be recognized at home. Haroun al Raschid 
dressed himself in lowly costume and pursued adventures 
among his people. Up in the icebound North, Thor had 
to utilize a female impersonation before he could regain his 
stolen hammer from Thrym. Down in the pastoral valley 
of Beersheba Jacob disguised himself as Esau and by a 
brief dissimulation gained his brother's birthright. 

If we narrow our view to a single type of literature, the 
drama, we shall find a long succession of disguise situations 
reaching its height in the Renaissance drama of Italy, Eng- 
land, and Spain. On the London stage alone disguise 
occurs with important dramatic functions in more than two 
hundred extant plays which were produced before the death 
of Shakespeare. 

A dramatic device so frequently used must be worthy of 
particular attention. 1 If we analyze Twelfth Night, for 

1 The only previous studies that have come to my attention are 
Schulz's monograph on the sources of the disguises in eight of Shake- 

1 



2 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

example, we find that Viola's disguise has definite functions 
in the development and termination of the plot. When 
we learn that Ben Jonson did not dare to produce the same 
kind of plots as Plautus for fear his audience would not 
accept certain stage improbabilities, we become interested 
in the theatrical methods of representing disguise situations. 
The study of dramaturgy and stagecraft involves dramatic 
history; and this history reveals interesting relations which 
perpetuated definite traditions in disguise plots. The 
English dramatists, like Moliere, took their treasures where 
they could find them. Obviously these dramatists took the 
treasures, not because they found them, but because they 
recognized their value in the theater. This recognition of 
dramatic values resulted in repetition and conventionalizing. 
Our chief interest in this book, as may be guessed from the 
chapter headings, is to follow out the careers, so to speak, 
of the various traditional disguises in Elizabethan drama. 

First of all we must make sure of our terms. Dramatic 
disguise, in our discussion, means a change of personal 
appearance which leads to mistaken identity. There is a 
double test, change and confusion. Disguise has a large 
number of relatives, and we ourselves must make no mis- 
takes in identity. We cannot refer to the twin motive in 
the Comedy of Errors as disguise, because the confusion in 
that play is not due to a change of costume and facial appear- 
ance. Nor can we apply the term " disguise " to the trick of 
substitution in a dark chamber, or to the verbal misrepre- 
sentations of a stranger who misleads us with respect to 
his identity. Eavesdropping is similar to spying in dis- 

speare's plays, Ziige's monograph on disguises in the English and 
Scottish ballads, Jackson's paper on disguise in Sanskrit drama, and 
Creizenach's half dozen pages of remarks on the use of disguise in Eng- 
lish drama. Dr. H. W. L. Dana has an excellent unpublished article 
entitled " The Disguised Heroine in the Sixteenth Century." 



INTRODUCTION 6 

guise; it results in the same sort of complication for the per- 
son under observation. The pretence of deafness may also 
have the same results as spying in disguise. Yet in the 
cases of twins, substitution, misrepresentation, eavesdrop- 
ping, and deafness the dramatic mistakes are not due to 
change of appearance. 

On the other hand, change of appearance may not always 
lead to mistaken identity. Volpone makes up to seem at 
death's door, which results in deception, but the victims 
mistake his condition and not his identity. The wearing 
of a mask or fantastic costume by a person would not 
naturally induce another to decide on his identity. On the 
contrary, it would suspend the decision until the mask was 
removed or until some individual mark or manner betrayed 
the person. Let us understand then that the plots we are 
to study contain confusion of identity resulting from the 
alteration of personal appearance. 

As a basis for the division of our material we shall use 
the disguise situation as such. We shall place in one 
category all cases of girls disguised as boys, whether such 
disguises have been prompted by love, hate, the spirit of 
adventure, curiosity, jealousy, or infidelity, and whether the 
action occurs in tragedy, comedy, or farce. The most definite 
division of disguises is according to sex. All women dis- 
guised as boys or men we shall call female pages, even 
though, for example, Bess Bridges masquerades as a sea 
captain, and not as a mere page. Boys or men disguised 
as women we shall include in the chapter entitled The Boy 
Bride. To be sure, Bartholomew, in the Induction to the 
Taming of The Shrew, does not actually become a boy bride; 
but the complication is essentially of the same nature as 
that in Epicoene. The spy in disguise became a traditional 
figure, appearing in situations that also became traditional. 
Hence we must classify spy plays in a group by themselves. 



4 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

Plays in which a single character, usually a rogue, imperson- 
ates many parts with lightning changes, are grouped in the 
chapter entitled The Rogue in Multi-Disguise. Situations 
in which the lover employs disguise constitute another group. 
Thus we have five types of disguise situation, identified by 
the female page, the boy bride, the rogue in multi-disguise, 
the disguised spy, and the disguised lover. Each type is 
classified according to the dramatic pattern of plot weav- 
ing, and named according to the distinctive feature in that 
pattern. In the situations of the female page and the boy 
bride the changes of sex are more distinctive than the pur- 
poses which inspired those changes. The action derives its 
characteristic dramatic value from the costumes rather than 
from what is in the minds of the persons. In the dis- 
guised spy and disguised lover plays, however, the purposes, 
not the costumes, are paramount. Even though the spy 
be a woman dressed as a man, the plot pattern does not 
usually resemble that of a female page play. These five 
types then may be considered mutually exclusive; they are 
sufficiently inclusive for all the important disguises in Eng- 
lish drama. 

The year 1616 has been chosen as an arbitrary terminal 
in tracing out disguise traditions. Disguise appears fre- 
quently after that time but lacks novelty in dramatic 
method. Many of the later plays will be alluded to, but 
no exhaustive study of them will be made. Our limitation 
gives opportunity for a somewhat detailed study of the plays 
of Shakespeare and his immediate contemporaries. 



CHAPTER II 

THE TECHNIC OF DRAMATIC DISGUISE 
To counterfet well is a good consayte. — Magnificence. 



Before we can intelligently follow the course of any 
traditional disguise situation, we must consider the tech- 
nical aspects of disguise in general. Let us examine briefly 
the constructive function of the motive, from the point of 
view of the playwright, and its physical or theatrical value 
from the point of view of the stage manager. Disguise is 
an effective dramatic contrivance because the deception 
which produces action and the recognition which ends it 
are fundamentally dramatic transactions; and because the 
change of costume together with the mimetic action of body 
and dissimulation of voice involve the essence of theatricality. 
For dramaturgic effectiveness there are few better mechanical 
devices. Yet it must be understood from the beginning 
that disguise is only a mechanical and external cause of 
action. When a dramatist builds a tragedy on the basis 
of mad ambition or vacillating desire for revenge, he is 
using an abstract or psychological cause. When comic ac- 
tion results from gullibility, or braggadocio, the motive is 
again abstract. But when pity and fear are aroused by 
the clashing of bloody swords, or when laughter comes at the 
sight of unctuous avoirdupois or ridiculous grimacings, the 
dramatic causes are physical and concrete. Such a physical 
device is the disguise motive. 

The test of plot structure needs no very elaborate formula. 
It is perhaps better to limit ourselves to two elements of 

5 



6 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

plot action, the complication and ultimate resolution. A 
playwright, before constructing a plot, must find a factor 
which is capable of producing dramatic complication. He 
must also find a factor which will produce a sure resolution 
of this complication. It stands to reason then that a device 
which complicates and is at the same time capable of resolv- 
ing, is especially desirable to him. Disguise is such a device. 
For as soon as disguise is successfully assumed there is proba- 
bility of complication which involves the persons deceived 
and the one deceiving; and when the disguise is discovered 
there is an end to the complication. We shall consider 
disguise basic when it initiates and develops, as well as re- 
solves, the action of the given plot. 

As a complicating factor disguise is useful because its 
results seem natural. The results are also partly foreseen, an 
important consideration, since expectancy is one of the keen- 
est joys of the spectator. When a girl disguises herself as 
a page and goes out into the world we know that there will 
be trouble before the day is over. She may fall in love 
with some man and regret that she cannot display her 
charms in feminine raiment. Some Olivia, mistaking her 
sex, may fall in love with her, and some rival may challenge 
her to a duel. She may meet her lover, and he may un- 
knowingly utilize her disguise to deepen his own infidelity 
towards her. Other types of disguise may initiate similar 
dramatic actions. Suppose we have an amorous gull who 
is disposed to fall in love with any petticoat; he meets 
some boy disguised as a girl, and the farcical results are 
inevitable. Suppose we hear a ruler say that he is going on 
a vacation. We suspect that the mice intend to play. 
But the shrewd ruler, instead of departing, remains in dis- 
guise. Again the complications are probable and interesting. 
On some dark night a lover steals to his beloved in the dis- 
guise of her husband. We learn that the husband is return- 



TECHNIC 7 

ing and we eagerly anticipate the results. These are only 
a few typical examples to illustrate how easily disguise may 
initiate a convincing plot. 

The plot once started, complications will accumulate with 
every circumstance until the revelation of disguise unties 
the knot. Many of the dramatic difficulties which beset 
the disguised person or his victims may be entirely un- 
foreseen by the audience; in constructing such situations 
the playwright needs considerable dramaturgic skill if he 
would hold his audience balanced between suspense and 
surprise. 

The most common use of disguise in constructing a plot 
is illustrated by Twelfth Night. The disguise of Viola is 
basic, and the results are manifold and highly dramatic; 
yet the use of this disguise is simple. Viola changes to male 
costume at the beginning of the story, and chance does the 
rest. She had not foreseen the complications and was simply 
a victim in the play. It was her disguise which constantly 
led her into difficulties. 

A different method of producing action is illustrated by 
the spy in Measure for Measure. In such a spy situation the 
disguised person is decidedly active. He is, as it were, the 
stage manager of the plot; for he initiates, oversees, and 
terminates the action; but he is the chief actor too. In 
the simpler spying situations the spy may stand safely aloof 
and watch the process of events ; but in Measure for Measure, 
as in many spy plays, he utilizes disguise not only to observe 
but to shape events as well. 

In multi-disguise plays disguise is by the definition basic. 
But it is not basic in the sense that the disguises in Twelfth 
Night or in Measure for Measure are basic, where a single 
and simple change of appearance operates with cumulative 
effect. A multi-disguise play is rather a series of transitions 
from one situation to another. Each disguise is an episode 



8 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

in itself, and the unity of the whole is like the unity in a 
string of beads. The complexity does not usually reach a 
logical crisis. Whether there shall be four changes of cos- 
tume or four dozen, is settled arbitrarily by the playwright. 
A motive similar to multi-disguise is the device of shifting 
out of disguise into the real character, then into the disguise, 
then back into the real character again. It occurs in the 
Malcontent, Measure for Measure, and elsewhere. 

The types above mentioned illustrate dramatic procedure 
when the audience is aware of the disguise and expectant 
of results. But in some plays, Epiccene and Philaster, for 
example, the presence of disguise is not known by the audi- 
ence, and consequently cannot be used as an impelling 
cause of action. The plot must be woven apparently by 
some other agency. This subject of unforeseen discovery of 
disguise is so important that we shall discuss it somewhat in 
detail a few pages below. 

Sometimes disguise is apparently a subsidiary, but actually 
a very important, factor in a play. Every Man in His Hu- 
mour, for example, is appreciated chiefly as a comedy of 
"humours." But it is interesting to note that the move- 
ment from one situation to another is largely effected through 
the machinations of Brainworm with his disguises. 

The use of a disguise episode as a dramatic link between 
two situations is a simple but effective dramaturgic device. 
It is best illustrated by Portia's manoeuvre in the Merchant 
of Venice. Her disguise enables her to terminate the tragic 
part of the plot, but it initiates a new set of comic complica- 
tions, which end by her revelation of the stratagem only when 
she has sufficiently teased her husband. 

A common disguise expedient was the costume exchange. 
For example, a prisoner escapes by exchanging costumes 
with a visitor who has come to see him. When the ruse is 
discovered the episode generally ends. This device is fre- 



TECHNIC 9 

quently used in the commedia delV arte (Creiz. IV, 252). 
It can be traced back through the Captivi of Plautus as far 
as the Frogs of Aristophanes, where master and slave ex- 
change costumes. In England a rapid series of costume 
exchanges characterizes such multi-disguise plays as Look 
About You. 

Thus we see how the disguise motive may become a use- 
ful part in the machinery of a plot, and how the machinery 
is kept in motion as long as the disguise remains an active 
part. The disguise ceases to be active as soon as it is dis- 
covered. 

Every writer knows that it is easier to start a plot than to 
stop it. But the playwright who motivated an entire plot 
on the disguise of some character had no difficulty; the plot 
could stop anywhere, and almost every complication could 
be satisfactorily resolved by merely exposing the disguise. 
As to the proper ending of a play, dramatists by their prac- 
tice, and critics by their precept, are not agreed. Price says 
that the end must be organic, and that "to deviate from the 
logical result is to -destroy at one blow all unity" (Technique, 
109). Professor Brander Matthews, shrewdly observant of 
what is, as well as what should be, says: "But if an audience 
has sat for three hours, following with keen enjoyment the 
successive episodes of a complication between forces evenly 
balanced, it does not insist upon logic; it is often better 
pleased to have the knot cut arbitrarily than to be delayed 
by the process of untying" (Study, 195). The resolution 
by the disguise motive can satisfy both critics, because the 
revelation of the identity which we had originally seen con- 
cealed is an organic, immediate, and final denouement. 
The resolution by discovery of identity is absolute, even 
when the original assumption of disguise was not probable 
or convincing. 

The denouement of a play always tests the skill of a 



10 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

dramatist. We have just said that a disguise denouement 
can be logical and convincing, for it is simply the removal 
of the cause which produced the difficulties. However, 
there are exceptions. Some disguise denouements are crude 
and ineffective because the writer was in haste, or was not 
alert to dramatic opportunity. In the Induction of The 
Shrew, for example, when Sly is victimized by a boy dressed 
as a girl the whole episode loses point because the disguise 
is not revealed and Sly does not discover that he is the vic- 
tim of a practical joke. Another case of ineffective action 
is the last act of Greene's James IV, where the author de- 
liberately altered the disguise plot of his source and brought 
the heroine on the stage in her own character instead of in 
disguise, thus missing an opportunity for the stage business 
of undisguising and its dramatic effect upon the other char- 
acters in the play. 

Letting the plot run into a blind alley is still another 
technical error. In Lyly's Gallathea we have two girls dis- 
guised as boys. Each thinks the other really is a boy and 
falls deeply in love with "him." Obviously the revelation 
of the two disguises in no way satisfies the love-sick girls. 
The resolution of this play cannot be organic, and must be 
effected by some outside agency. Venus steps in and 
changes one girl into a boy. 

These are interesting exceptions. But we find many ingen- 
ious and effective resolutions of plot by the discovery of 
disguise. The simultaneous appearance of doubles at the 
end of a play was an unusually theatrical means of forcing 
the revelation of identity. We have a situation of real 
doubles in such a play as the Comedy of Errors, where the 
resemblance of the pair is not artificial. But in Twelfth 
Night there is an artificial resemblance between Viola as 
page and Sebastian. The dramatic consequence of their 
simultaneous appearance is the revelation of Viola's arti- 



TECHNIC 11 

ficial likeness. The entry of the doubles upon the scene 
produces a dramatic pause on a full stage, and while we 
are amused by the puzzled mien of some of the persons, 
we watch the expressions of brother and sister growing 
into recognition. 

If the doubles in a play were both disguised like some 
third person, fictitious or real, their simultaneous appear- 
ance served as an exposure of fraud on both sides. Such 
a situation occurs very effectively at the end of Look About 
You, 1 where the two men disguised as the " hermit" appear, 
and each one, while maintaining his own genuineness, 
accuses the other of being an impostor. 

The most subtle doubles situation of all is in Marston's 
What You Will. A man is impersonating another who is 
supposedly dead. A rival of this impersonator proposes 
to disguise a second impersonator like the absent man, and 
the knowledge of this counterplot leaks out. But this second 
disguise is never effected, a fact which does not leak out. 
The consequence is that when the supposedly dead man 
appears, the counterplotters think he is the first imperson- 
ator and the plotters think he is the second impersonator. 
Presently when the genuine character and his impersonator 
appear simultaneously, both are considered bogus. Thus the 
theatrical effect of a stock situation from Plautus was en- 
riched by a slight touch in the spring of action. 

Our study of the dramaturgic effect of basic disguises leads 
us into more and more intricate plots. The most elabo- 
rately motivated disguise situation of all is what I term the 
"retro-disguise." This will be discussed more fully in con- 
nection with a number of female page plays. 2 The formula 
is as follows: First, a girl disguises herself as a boy. Second, 
somebody who thinks this female page really is a boy dis- 

1 The plot of Look About You is summarized in Chapter VI. 

2 See Chapter IV, pages, 80-3. 



12 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

guises "him" as a girl, which constitutes a retro-disguise, 
or an unconscious restoring of the right appearance and 
identity. The results during the play are highly involved 
and the denouement is double in structure. First, a number 
of victims have to be told that the girl is only a disguised 
page; then all the persons of the play have to learn that the 
page, as a matter of fact, is of the female sex, and had origi- 
nally been in disguise. Such a plot, though intricate, is not 
too hard to follow when the audience is taken completely 
into confidence concerning all the action. But when the 
first disguise is not known by the spectators, but is revealed 
as a surprise at the end of the play, the plot seems a little 
too highly involved. An example of retro-disguise combined 
with surprise is Jonson's New Inn. 3 

The surprise motive, which became very popular during 
the Jacobean drama, is, I believe, an English contribution 
to the technic of disguise plots. In the conventional dis- 
guise plot the character who was to disguise himself always 
told the audience of his intention, 4 sometimes directly in a 
monolog, and sometimes in discussion with a confidant. 
Usually the costume too was specified. Hence the audience 
not only knew that there was going to be a disguise, but 
was able to recognize the disguised character immediately 
upon appearance. 

But in the surprise plot the audience was completely 
deceived and did not know until the end of the play that 
there had been disguise. In such a plot therefore the 
action could not be impelled by the disguise motive, for 

3 See Chapter IV. 

4 Such practice goes back at least as far as Aristophanes. In 
Acharnians when Dicaeopolis dresses as a beggar he says: "The 
spectators must know who I am; but the chorus, on the other hand, 
must stand by like fools, that I may fillip them with quibbles." 
Hickie, I, 18. See Arnold (56-58) for a discussion of the identifica- 
tion of disguised persons by the use of soliloquies. 



TECHNIC 13 

that factor did not yet exist as far as the observer was 
concerned. But incidents had to have dramatic signifi- 
cance. Significance would come, to be sure, by the spec- 
tators' discovery of the disguise when the play ended, but 
during the progress of the play the incidents must not seem 
devoid of dramatic meaning. Therefore in surprise plots 
the playwright had to motivate the action by some cause 
which was independent of the concealed disguise motive. 
In Epiccene it is the bridegroom's hatred of noise that gives 
dramatic significance to the career of the boisterous bride. 
The startling revelation of the bride's sex is unsuspected, 
because the audience finds the action amusing and complete 
without seeking further motives. The denouement is a 
complete surprise. 

Whether such surprise is good dramaturgy may be a ques- 
tion of taste. But I think the average spectator would rather 
be given certain dramatic causes and conflicts with a chance 
to guess at the probable outcome, than watch the unfold- 
ing of a dramatic story which ends with the disconcerting 
revelation that he had all the way through been ignorant of 
the cardinal fact in the story. If there is a secret, the spec- 
tator wants to be let in, so that he may enjoy the perplexed 
action of the characters during complications and their 
amazement when the cause of the complications is revealed. 
But if the secret is held back, the spectator may feel that he 
has been victimized as much as the gulls in the play. In 
Epiccene even Truewit, one of the comic conspirators, is 
deceived. He has the sympathy of the spectator when he 
says: "Well, Dauphine, you have lurched your friends of 
the better half of the garland by concealing this part of the 
plot." Perhaps this statement really represents a serious 
query of Jonson himself, who may have doubted the suc- 
cess of his departure from traditional technic in disguise 
intrigue. 



14 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

We must remember that the surprise motive is operative 
only at the first witnessing of the play; and even then some 
obliging initiate may assume the responsibility of disclosing 
the secret. 6 

A compromise between confided disguise and surprise is 
employed by Chapman in May Day (see Chapter IV, 
page 87). By two or three hints he arouses the suspicion 
of the audience that a certain boy might in reality be a girl. 
This type of a dimly suspected discovery of disguise would 
seem to be dramaturgically desirable; but for some reason 
it did not flourish. 

If the dramatist grew tired of conventional disguise in its 
various functions, or if the retro-disguise and the surprise 
discovery lost their novelty, he could still amuse his audience 
with the same kind of complications as from disguise by 
simply pretending disguise when there was none at all. 6 
In Honest Man's Fortune (see Chapter IV, page 97) a credu- 
lous character gets the notion that a certain page is a girl in 
disguise. The page, seeing an opportunity for a joke, says 
to himself substantially, "Very well, whoop la, I am in 
disguise," and acts as though he were a female page instead 
of a mischievous lad. We have already alluded to Marston's 
effective use of a supposed impersonation in What You 
Will. 7 The most laughable supposition of all is when the 
character imagines himself in disguise although there is no 
change of appearance. This is the situation in Albumazar 
(see Chapter VIII, page 186), where a farmer is made to be- 
lieve that he has been magically transformed into another 
man, and conducts himself accordingly. 

In the above paragraphs we have briefly pointed out the 

6 This type of disguise is further discussed and illustrated in Chapter 
IV, pages 84-9, and in Chapter V, pages 114-18. 

6 For Italian examples of supposed disguise see Chapter VIII, page 185. 

7 See above, page 11. 



TECHNIC 15 

various structural functions of the disguise motive. It 
remains for us to point out two or three other qualities 
which recommend it as a dramatic device. 

The dialog of a disguise situation is especially capable of 
theatrical effectiveness. A disguised character is virtually two 
persons. One personality is maintained for the companions, 
who are deceived; and the other personality for the spec- 
tators, who are not deceived. This immediately gives an 
opportunity for double meanings or veiled allusions. Such 
subtlety of dialog is a valuable element of style, especially 
in Lyly and Shakespeare. 8 Furthermore, these subtleties 
are not subtleties of speech merely; they permit pretty 
shadings in the physical language of pantomime, and are 
therefore peculiarly important in theatrical art. 9 

The dramatic economy of a playwright may be discovered 
by studying his use of disguise, which is always, even in 
simple use, an economic motive. By economy we mean 
getting the maximum dramatic value from every dramatic 
action. Disguise gives dramatic compactness by compress- 
ing two characters into one person. One is the fictitious 
character, who seems real enough to the people in the play; 
and the other is the real character, whose presence they do 
not suspect. The value of such duality may be illustrated 
by Chapman's Widow's Tears. Chapman found a story 
containing a dead husband, a widow, and a soldier lover. 
He made a play out of it by conceiving the husband sup- 
posedly dead but really disguised as the soldier lover. Thus 
he actually eliminated a character, but multiplied the 
dramatic results. 

Dramatic irony is one of the best dramaturgic products 
of disguise. There is poetic irony in the conception of 
Viola in love with the duke, yet carrying his love messages 

8 See Chapter IV, pages 65-6; 75-8. 

9 In surprise plays veiled allusions are naturally impossible. 



16 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

to Olivia, or in Julia's emotions as she carries her own 
betrothal ring as a love token to a rival mistress. Comic 
irony is exhibited in Measure for Measure when the duke, 
who has been spying, pretends to have returned from 
abroad, expresses confidence in his notorious deputy, and 
listens to the deputy's accusations of a certain "friar " 
(himself in disguise). Other examples of comic irony are 
Justice Overdo's spying out loose women only to find his wife 
among them, and Gremio's employing a rival lover, Lucentio, 
as his love agent. Tragic irony of disguise is illustrated by 
the death of the disguised lover in / Ieronimo, and in 
Beaumont and Fletcher's Captain, where a daughter amo- 
rously solicits her disguised father. 10 

Absolute probability versus dramatic probability has been 
a topic of discussion ever since the sage remarks of Aristotle. 
The question naturally arises in analyzing the basis and 
development of any dramatic plot, but is especially per- 
tinent in testing the technic of a disguise plot. In consider- 
ing the disguise motive one critic says: "II n'y a rien de 
plus invraisemblable " (Mezieres, 65). Another says that 
the disguise motive often is accompanied by "die krassesten 
Unwahrscheinlichkeiten" (Creiz. IV, 254). And there can 
be no quarrel with the criticisms. Looking for improba- 
bilities in disguise plots, or in Elizabethan drama, in gen- 
eral, is like fishing in a pool that has been stocked. Let 
us apply to the disguise motive the words which Professor 
Matthews has written concerning the twin motive. He 
says: "If the play which the author builds on an arbitrary 

10 The tragic irony of the play scene in the Spanish Tragedy is not 
due to disguise; no one mistakes the identity of Ieronimo or of the 
other performers of the play within the play. The victims are mistaken 
in [Ieronimo's intention, not in his identity. Compare the scene 
where a rogue is disguised as a player in Middleton's Mad World, My 
Masters. See Chapter VI, page 136. 



TECHNIC 17 

supposition of this sort catches the interest of the spec- 
tators and holds them enthralled as the story unrolls itself, 
then they forget all about its artificial basis and they have 
no leisure to cavil" (Study, 209). We can accept disguise 
as conventionally probable, but we do well to remember that 
an increasing improbability accelerates the transition into 
farce. 

A play differs essentially from a story, which is merely to 
be imagined. Consequently we have two kinds of proba- 
bility. One is the probability of the plot as we see it in the 
mind's eye, and the other is the probability of the action 
as we actually see it represented physically with mechanical 
aids on a fixed spot and within a limited time. It is conceiv- 
able that a real Rosalind might deceive a real Orlando in a 
real forest of Arden. That is at least one aspect of the 
question of probability. But that a hundred and sixty 
pound, well-molded actress should deceive a hundred and 
thirty-five pound, slender, fifteen year younger actor into 
believing that she is a sentimental shepherd boy is pre- 
posterous. Yet such a reductio ad absurdum has been known 
even on our contemporary stage. 11 

The vision of the mind's eye must not be obscured by the 

11 White discusses stage Rosalinds in his Studies in Shakespeare, 
233-257. After condemning all the performances he has ever seen, 
he says that the following costuming of the part would be historically 
correct, would make the confusions more probable, and would bring 
out the real humor of the situation in Arden. Rosalind should first 
"with a kind of umber smirch" her face. She should wear a doublet 
and trunk-hose, with tawny boots "almost meeting the puffed and bom- 
basted trunk-hose." A coarse russet cloak, and "a black felt hat with 
narrow brim and high and slightly conical crown" should complete the 
costume. She should be armed with a boar-spear and a cutlass. 

This comment should be compared with Winter's description 
(80-82) of Viola Allen's performance of Twelfth Night. He criticises 
the actress severely for being too literal and matter-of-fact in her con- 
ception of the female page. 



18 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

rough beams of the theater. All the art of the actor and 
the stage manager must unite to obviate jarring improba- 
bilities, and to make a disguise situation seem at least 
poetically probable. It will be interesting in the succeeding 
paragraphs to note the development of the art of representing 
disguise situations on the English stage. It is a record, not 
only of a development of skill in theatrical costuming and 
make-up, but also of an awakening consciousness of the 
rich theatricality in disguise situations. 



ii 

The staging of disguise may be considered as advancing 
in three steps. First, there was only a change of name, but 
no change at all in appearance. Second, there was a partial 
change of appearance, or merely a symbol to represent a 
change. Third, there came a consistent attempt to make 
the disguised person really look his part in detail. Thus the 
acting of disguise parts developed from the mere pretending 
of children at play, to the art of the well-equipped and 
practiced mimic. 

In Skelton's Magnificence the whole plot depends on the 
hero's mistaking Fancy for Largess, Crafty Conveyance for 
Sure Surveyance, Courtly Abusion for Lusty Pleasure, 
Folly for Conceit, and Cloaked Collusion for Sober Sadness. 
Yet all except one of these characters have remained un- 
changed in appearance. 12 They have confessedly merely 
changed their names. The disguise which these characters 
pretend is a disguise of abstract character, a spiritual meta- 
morphosis, which is after all best indicated by a change of 
name. We may imagine such a disguise but cannot easily 
represent it by physical garments. 

12 Cloaked Collusion wears some sort of vestment or priestly gar- 
ment (11, 601-609) to represent "sober sadness." 



TECHNIC 19 

Some progress is made in Lyndsay's Satire of the Three Es- 
tates. Flattery, Falsehood, and Deceit change their names to 
Devotion, Sapience, and Discretion, thus assuming the same 
sort of spiritual disguise as the characters in Magnificence. 
But the play is an advance in theatricality, for the three 
vices actually put on the costumes of friars. These garments 
appropriately symbolize devotion, wisdom, and discretion, 
and, what is more important, they add to the stage picture 
and permit new stage business. 

When the characters in a play ceased being abstractions 
and became human individuals, the disguise, too, had to 
become individual and specific. The transition is repre- 
sented in the interlude called the Marriage of Wit and Wis- 
dom (probably considerably earlier than the manuscript, 
which is dated 1579). The author pretends to disguise 
Idleness into five different characters. In scene 2, Idleness 
gulls the credulous Wit by saying that his name is Honest 
Recreation. But he does not alter his appearance in the 
least. In scene 3, Idleness enters and says that now he is 
"nue araid like a phesitien." He evidently is not much 
altered, however, for two comrades address him as Idleness, 
and Wit recognizes him as Honest Recreation, the name by 
which he knows him. In scene 4, Idleness enters " halting 
with a stilt, and shall cary a cloth upon a stafe, like a rat- 
catcher." This is confessedly pseudo-disguise but, accept- 
ing the symbol, we behold a very good scene, for Idleness 
has a merry time with the constable who carries a warrant 
to arrest Idleness! Since the constable does not appear in 
any other scene with Idleness, the disguise may be considered 
sufficiently convincing. In scene 6, Idleness says he is "a 
bould beggar," but, since this scene is a monolog and nobody 
sees him, he might as safely say that he is Charlemagne. 
The same conditions of isolation apply to scene 9, where 
Idleness enters "like a priest." The superficial changes in 



20 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

order to impersonate the types of rat-catcher, physician, 
beggar, and priest represent a slight advance in disguise 
usage, while the changing of the name Idleness to Honest 
Recreation is a relic of the pure moralities. 

The next step is the disguise which involves only individuals 
and has nothing to do with general abstractions. There is, 
by the way, no very definite chronological order in the devel- 
opment we are tracing. 13 Our next illustration, Tom Tyler 
and His Wife, may be an older piece than the Marriage of 
Wit and Wisdom. Tom Tyler, which may date about 1550, 
contains perhaps the earliest English impersonation motive. 14 
The situation is this: Tom Tyler is strangely afraid to 
beat his wife. But his friend Tom Tayler performs the 
task by disguising in Tyler's coat. The wife takes her 
thrashing without discovering Tayler's identity. There 
was no attempt at facial make-up or change of appear- 
ance, but the mid-century audience was not hypercritical, 
and a change of coat was sufficient to indicate the im- 
personation. 

The words of Chapman in May Day (II, 4) could have 
been written more pertinently at least a generation before 
May Day, for after 1600 his criticism had surely lost point. 
He refers to "the stale refuge of miserable poets, by change 
of a hat or a cloak to alter the whole state of a comedy." 
Then his comment is "unless your disguise be such that your 

13 The change of names and symbolic disguising continued till the 
end of the century. For a comparison of these disguises see, besides 
the plays already mentioned, Lusty Juventus (before 1553), New Cus- 
tom (before 1563), Albion Knight (1566), Common Conditions (1570), 
Three Lords and Three Ladies of London (1585), Cobbler's Prophecy 
(before 1593), and the Case is Altered (1598), and the dumb show in 
the Whore of Babylon (1604). The dates are from Schelhng's list. 

14 An impersonation motive of a different kind appears in Jack 
Juggler (see below, page 29). Whether that interlude precedes Tom 
Tyler or vice versa cannot be determined. 



TECHNIC 21 

face may bear as great a part in it as the rest, the rest is 
nothing." 

If a playwright realized the improbability in partial dis- 
guise he might make this improbability less obvious to the 
spectator by letting the person in disguise act only in mono- 
log scenes, while the actual dramatic contact with other 
persons took place off the stage. This method, as we have 
just seen, was used in the Marriage of Wit and Wisdom. 
Whetstone in Promos and Cassandra presents Cassandra, 
"apparelled like a page" (Part I, III, 7) only for a brief 
soliloquy, and she meets no one on the stage. So also 
Andrugio, disguised "in some long black cloak" (Part II, 
V, 1), appears only in monolog scenes. 

Acting in the Shakespearian theater was probably well 
developed into a finished art. By studying disguise situa- 
tions we may form some general conclusion concerning the 
attention to detail in stage presentation. Of course, we are 
handicapped by not having any prompter's copies of the 
plays, but even in the text and stage directions of printed 
plays we have interesting evidence of the stage manager's 
practice. We shall illustrate briefly the acting of the dis- 
guise motive with reference to costume, facial make-up, 
voice, and stage business. 

Actors and actresses are fond of appearing in different 
costumes during a play. The practice is very common in 
contemporary staging, even in "straight" parts of the 
serious "legitimate" drama. Disguise furnished an oppor- 
tunity to display an actor in various costumes. 15 All of 
Shakespeare's female pages appeared first as women, then, 

16 Pepys thought Kynaston especially fortunate in playing the role 
of Epiccene. He says: "Kinaston the boy had the good turn to appear 
in three shapes; first, as a poor gentlewoman in ordinary clothes, . . . 
then in fine clothes, as a gallant; . . . and lastly as a man" (January 
7, 1661). 



22 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

after talking of disguising, appeared in the fictitious male 
character. Rosalind, Portia, Nerissa, and Jessica re-appear 
dressed as women. But Julia, Viola, and Imogen confess 
their identities and remain in page costumes. Julia dresses 
in "such weeds as may beseem some well reputed page" 
(II, 7). Rosalind decides to "suit me all points like a 
man" (I, 3). Imogen receives from her servant "Doublet, 
hat, hose, all that answer to them" (III, 4). Portia's 
habit is not specified but she was doubtless dressed like 
a doctor of laws. Viola enters in "man's attire." 

A woodcut published in the 1622 edition of the Maid's 
Tragedy shows Aspatia disguised in "man's apparel." 
There is practically no difference between her and Amintor 
in dress and appearance. 16 The fact that the actor of a 
female page part was actually a young man, made the part 
absolutely convincing as it cannot be when an actress as- 
sumes the role. "What an odd double confusion it must 
have made, to see a boy play a woman playing a man: one 
cannot disentangle the perplexity without some violence to 
the imagination," said Lamb in his notes on Philaster. 
But in this book we shall have occasion several times for 
an odder and triple confusion, for we shall see a boy play 
a woman playing a man disguised as a woman. The neces- 
sity of using boy actors for female roles doubtless bore a 
vital relation to the popularity of the heroine-pages. The 
stage manager and boy actor had an easy time of it. But 
it was the poet's art to create the illusion of real life by 
letting the women of a play discuss and plan their disguises 
as though they might have some difficulty in looking like boys. 

Sometimes various causes united to make a costume or 

16 An interesting comment on woman's dress is furnished by Mid- 
dleton's Mad World, My Masters (III, 3) where Follywit, when disguis- 
ing as a woman, uses only a skirt. He explains that the "upper 
bodies" (doublet) is the same for woman as for man and that he will 
be in "fashion to a hair." 



TECHNIC 23 

character popular with a playwright. The friar's gown, 
with its ample folds and long hood, furnished a convenient 
means of concealment in many plays. The disguise of an 
old soldier often appears. Both of these costumes were 
especially desirable because they were easily procurable in 
London and did not have to be made to order for any par- 
ticular performance or play. Besides, these two — the friar 
and the soldier — were familiar figures and were easily imi- 
tated or burlesqued. The custom of getting what was con- 
venient is reflected in the Alchemist (IV, 4) when Face 
instructs Drugger to go to the players and borrow "Hieron- 
imo's old cloak, ruff and hat" in order to disguise as a 
Spaniard. 

Conventional symbolic disguises were doubtless used when 
a character wished to pose as Revenge, Rapine, or Murder 
(see Titus Andronicus), or as a ghost. What these conven- 
tional costumes were we can only guess. 17 

Special costumes may possibly have been manufactured 
to facilitate disguising. In the Devil is an Ass a character 
mentions "double clokes" (III, 2). Gifford says in a note 
that the garment referred to was "a cloke adapted for dis- 
guises, which might be worn on either side. It was of dif- 
ferent colours, and fashions. This turned cloke . . . fur- 
nished a ready and effectual mode of concealment, which is 
now lost to the stage." Such a cloak might have been 
very useful in multi-disguise plays, but I can find no refer- 
ences to one, nor any situation where it was needed. 18 

The references given above show that playwrights gave 
a great deal of attention to the garments of the disguised 

17 Haigh {Attic Theatre, 221) implies that the Greeks had special 
masks to represent figures such as Justice, Persuasion, Deceit, Jealousy. 

18 Note in Magnificence, fine 605, that when Cloaked Collusion 
appears disguised in a priestly vestment he is addressed as "Sir John 
Double Cloak" (or "Double Cope"). 



24 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

person. But the principle of probability demanded that 
the change of appearance should extend farther than the 
clothes. The face also had to be disguised. There were, 
however, two subterfuges. One was the wearing of a high 
bandage or muffler. Thus Wilie posing as a girl in George 
a Greene pretends to have a toothache and naturally has 
his face pretty well covered. Thus, also, Falstaff as witch 
wears a muffler. The other evasion was the wearing of a 
mask, or visor, concealing, not disguising, the face. 19 Folly- 
wit, disguised as a courtesan, in Mad World, My Masters, 
wears both a mask and a "chin clout" or muffler. When 
Epiccene first appears she is wearing a mask, which is imme- 
diately removed at the request of Morose. But masks do 
not seem to have been extensively used either in disguises 
or the acting of regular women's parts. Quince's promise 
to Flute that he may save his young beard by playing Thisbe's 
part in a mask perhaps is meant to reflect Flute's ready wit 
rather than any general custom of the stage. 

The actor's face, in case there was no covering provided 
for it, might be changed in hue or feature in order to make 
the disguise effective. Rosalind gives her face the tanned 
complexion of a country boy by smirching it with "a kind 
of umber" (I, 3). In the Blind Beggar of Bednal Green 
(III, 2) Canbee and his companion, before undertaking new 
rogueries, wash off "that gypsy color." There is a touch of 
verisimilitude in Look About You when Robin Hood is to 

19 Masks in the Greek theater were used, not to conceal the face, 
but to give it character, thus serving the purpose of make-up. Natu- 
rally the characters represented were stereotyped in feature, twenty- 
eight types for tragedy, and forty-four types for the New Comedy 
(Haigh, 221, 237). It seems strange that these conditions did not 
encourage frequent uses of dramatic disguise in Greek drama even be- 
fore the New Comedy. Although actors played numerous parts in a 
play, this was done for stage convenience, and not to produce mis- 
taken identity, except in the rare cases noted in Chapter III. 



TECHNIC 25 

disguise as Lady Fauconbridge. She says: "Be wary, lest 
ye be discovered," and Robin replies: "Best paint me, then 
be sure I shall not blush." Brainworm as an old soldier 
wears "a smoky varnish" (III, 1). Edgar in King Lear (II, 
3) planning to disguise himself as a madman, says "My 
face I'll grime with filth." Sir John Frugal in Massinger's 
City Madam (1619) is disguised like an Indian from Vir- 
ginia — the first American Indian disguise in English 
drama 20 — and speaks of washing off his paint before he 
will be recognized. 

It must be remembered that all these references imply a 
more or less careful change of facial make-up between 
scenes. Sometimes the making up took place before the 
audience. Skink in Look About You disguises himself as a 
drawer by smearing stage "blood" over his face, the busi- 
ness being performed on the stage. In May Day (III, 2) 
Angelo helps Lorenzo with his chimney-sweep disguise. He 
enters with a "pot of painting" and gives the impatient 
lover the proper complexion of a chimney sweep. 

A false nose is worn by the rogue in the Blind Beggar of 
Alexandria whenever he appears as the usurer Leon. This 
stage property is referred to in various places in the text. 

Pretended blindness was another stratagem of disguise. 
In the Blind Beggar of Alexandria and the Blind Beggar of 
Bednal Green the heroes make up as blind. In Jonson's 
New Inn Lady Frampul disguises by playing blind in one 
eye. She doubtless wore a patch. I do not know just 
how the "Beggars" were made up. Fitzwater in the Down- 
fall of Robert, Earl of Huntington (III, 2) pretended blindness 
by merely closing his eyes; but that stratagem would not 
really make him less liable to recognition. 

20 In Tomkins's Lingua (1603-04) Tobacco is represented as an 
Indian; Beaumont and Fletcher's Triumph of Time (1608) presents 
Plutus with a troop of Indians; but these are not cases of disguise. 



26 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

The wearing of patches was a common device for dis- 
guising the face. Brainworm as an old soldier wears "three 
or four patches" (III, 1). Skinkin Look About You and the 
rogue in the Blind Beggar of Alexandria wear patches as 
part of their disguises. Aspatia in the Maid's Tragedy 
wears artificial scars, which she refers to as "these few blem- 
ishes" (V, 4). At the end of the London Prodigal Flower- 
dale, who is disguised as an old sailor, reveals himself with 
the words : " Look on me better, now my scar is off." 

False hair and beards are so often mentioned in the dis- 
guise plays that references are unnecessary here. Some- 
times disguises are effected by removing the beard, the 
character making the operation seem real by speaking of 
"shaving." Friscobaldo thus disguises himself as an old 
servant by "shaving" (27 Honest Whore, I, 2), and Face 
resumes his part as butler by "shaving" {Alchemist, IV, 4). 
It is interesting to see how the playwrights strove for veri- 
similitude by making the boy actor appear not like a boy, 
but like a girl disguised as a boy. Julia, instead of saying 
she will cut her hair, says she will "knit it up in silken 
strings with twenty odd-conceited true-love knots" (II, 7), 
and when Second Luce at the end of the Wise Woman of 
Hogsdon reveals herself "she scatters her hair." The actor 
had, in a sense, a double make-up. Outwardly he appeared 
to be a boy. When this disguise was discovered he looked 
like a girl, but this too was a make-up. 2X 

The change of costume and facial appearance did not 

21 There is an interesting example of disguise within disguise in 
Brome's Northern Lasse (V, 8). When Pate's doctor disguise is re- 
moved he proves to be a minister; when the minister disguise is removed 
he proves to be Pate, the witty servant. A symbolical disguise within 
disguise occurs in Field's Woman is a Weathercock (V, 2). When 
Nevill removes his parson's disguise he stands in a devil's robe and shows 
what "knavery a priest's cloak can hide." See also Calderon's Amor, 
Honor, y Pooler, described in Chapter III, page 54. 



TECHNIC 27 

complete the disguise. It was also important that the voice 
and manner of speech be disguised. Vocal mimicry gave 
the actor an opportunity to display his talents. This elo- 
cutionary change was not so necessary in the case of a female 
page, for the voice of a boy is about the same as that of a 
young woman. But in some of the other disguise situa- 
tions the demands on the actor were more severe. When 
Kent enters disguised he evidently casts a critical glance 
over his costume and remarks: "If but as well I other ac- 
cents borrow, That can my speech diffuse, my good intent 
May carry through itself." There was a "varying accent" 
in Brainworm's speech while he was disguised as a soldier 
(III, 2). An interesting stage direction in the Malcontent 
(I, 1) reads: "Bilioso re-entering, Malevole shifteth his 
speech." This indicates that the disguised duke speaks in 
feigned voice except when speaking with Celso, his confidant. 

A peculiarity of speech sometimes had to be imitated. 
For example in Look About you Skink exchanges costumes 
with the stammering Red Cap and, of course, has to imi- 
tate his stammer as well. Then when Skink-as-Red-Cap 
exchanges with Gloucester, the latter has to assume the 
stammer. The stammering motive is also used effectively 
in the doubles situation in What You Will (see Chapter 
VIII, page 186). 

Foreign languages and dialects also were imitated. Dis- 
guised characters speak Spanish in the Alchemist, broken 
Italian in Rare Triumphs of Love and Fortune, pseudo- 
French in Old Fortunatus, Dutch in the London Prodigal 
and in the Shoemaker's Holiday, to mention only a few 
examples. Irish, Welsh, and similar insular dialects are 
often used to emphasize a disguise. 

The fourth theatrical change necessary in disguise situa- 
tions was the change in physical bearing and general stage 
business. Imitative business was a good opportunity for 



28 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

histrionic exhibition on the part of the ambitious actor. 
Shakespeare liked to have his characters specify this part 
of their mimicry. The roguish lord in The Shrew says: "I 
know the boy will well usurp the grace, Voice, gait, and 
action of a gentlewoman." Portia turns "two mincing 
steps into a manly stride," and Rosalind bears a "swashing 
and a martial outside." Duke Vincentio demands instruc- 
tion so that he "may formally in person bear me Like a true 
friar," and Imogen is instructed to act with "what imita- 
tion you can borrow from youth of such a season." 

Sometimes physical peculiarities have to be imitated, as, 
for example, in the Fair Maid of the Exchange, where Frank 
has to act like the cripple, in order to win his lady love. 

The desire to attain probability in histrionic presentation 
of the doubles situation would lead, strictly considered, to a 
realist's dilemma. If two characters did not look alike, 
how could there be a confusion of identity? and if they did 
look exactly alike, how could the audience keep from being 
confused? On the Roman stage absolute identity of doubles 
was easily produced by the use of masks. It was perhaps 
easier to make two masks alike than different. 22 But the au- 
dience kept the doubles apart by means of a conventional 
badge supposed to be invisible to the persons in the drama. 
An echo from the Latin 23 is seen in the Prologue to the Birth 
of Hercules where Mercury says: "But that you may knowe 
us asunder, I will were in my hatt a piece of a feather for a 
difference; and the same difference shalbe betwixt my father 
and Amphitruo, which none els shall perceaue but you." 
This precaution in the Birth of Hercules is, of course, not 

22 Although it is said that masks were not used in the Roman 
theater before about 115 B.C. (Teuffel, I, 25), we must remember that 
the doubles situations of Amphitruo and Mencechmi were originally 
composed for the Greek theater, where masks were regularly used. 

23 See the Prologue to Amphitruo. 



TECHNIC 29 

really necessary, for the Elizabethan actors of the parts 
did not appear exactly alike. Perhaps the audience was 
expected to imagine that a badge was necessary to dis- 
tinguish one actor from the other. 

Ben Jonson did not think the Amphitruo plot was prac- 
ticable before a sophisticated London audience. He told 
Drummond {Conv. XVI, 29) that he had "ane intention to 
have made a play like Plautus's Amphitrio, but, left it of, 
for that he could never find two so like others that he could 
persuade the spectators they were one." With this in 
memory it is interesting to compare a passage from the 
Sad Shepherd (II, 1). The witch of Paplewick intends to 
assume multi-impersonation and says to her daughter: 
"Douce, because ye may meet me in many shapes to-day, 
where'er you spy This broidered belt with characters, 'tis I." 

As a matter of fact there was no real dilemma in the act- 
ing of doubles, for on the Elizabethan, as on the contem- 
porary, stage, it was no more necessary that the disguised 
Viola should look exactly like her brother than that the 
actor of Rosalind should speak his lines in the real forest 
of Arden. 24 

This chapter has aimed to show the various values of 
disguise as a factor in dramatic structure, and its quadruple 
theatrical opportunities in stage presentation. These two 
aspects of the disguise motive have been set forth with 
some completeness in order to enable the reader to grasp 
the full dramatic and theatrical import of the situations 
discussed in the following chapters. 

24 It is interesting to note that in such an early interlude as Jack 
Juggler, where the make-up of actors was doubtless very crude, 
Jenkins endeavors to create conviction of resemblance through mere 
wordy assertion. He says that Jack is like him in head, cap, shirt, 
knotted hair, eyes, nose, lips, cheeks, chin, neck, feet, legs, hips, 
stature, height, and age! 



30 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

Enthusiasts sometimes talk about the Elizabethan drama 
as though it were only the tragic or comic struggle of pas- 
sion set forth in poetic language. They imply that the dram- 
atist, soaring loftily in the heights, condescended reluctantly 
to mere devices of stage representation. We gladly agree 
that the poetry and spiritual conflicts in the Elizabethan 
drama are of imperishable beauty, and we would not mini- 
mize their fame. But the voice, mimicry, pantomime, and 
external physical auxiliaries, or technically speaking, the 
tricks of reading and impersonation, costuming, stage busi- 
ness, setting, and stage properties, all of which perished with 
the performance, were by no means scorned by the poets, 
for they were playwrights, too. The evidences that the 
Elizabethans did everything in their power and knowledge 
to make stage representation realistic to eyes and ears, are 
palpable to the scholar, and should not be ignored when 
discoursing on the poetic drama of Shakespeare and his 
contemporaries. 



CHAPTER III 
THE ORIGIN AND EXTENT OF DRAMATIC DISGUISE 

This poet is that poet's plagiary, 

And he a third's, till they end all in Homer. 

And Homer filched all from an Egyptian priestess, 

The world's a theatre of theft. 

— Albumazar. 



In the previous chapter we have tried to show the tech- 
nical functions and values of disguise from the point of 
view of the writer who is constructing a dramatic plot, and of 
the stage manager who is producing the play. It will now 
be interesting to glance at the history of dramatic disguise, 
to see how writer, stage manager, and audience gradually 
learned to appreciate and desire these dramatic and theat- 
rical values of disguise. We shall see scattered and crude 
examples in Greek drama, more practical and skilful use 
of disguise in Roman comedy, and well-established tradi- 
tions of the motive in Italian drama. 

Disguise as we have defined the device is almost totally 
absent from Greek tragedy, occurring only in four plays out 
of thirty-three. One is by iEschylus, one by Sophocles, and 
two by Euripides. In three of these four plays the disguise 
is merely incidental to the plot, and in the fourth the dis- 
guise, although basic, is of slight value. 

^Eschylus heads the list with his Choephori. In this play 
Orestes, after identifying himself to his sister Electra 
assumes the disguise of a stranger and speaks "the Par- 
nassian speech copying the accent of a Phocian tongue." 

31 



32 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

Thus disguised he meets his mother Clytemnestra and tells 
her of the pretended death of himself. Later he slays 
Clytemnestra and iEgisthus. That there was some theatri- 
cal advantage in changing mask and costume is possible; 
but that the plot structure does not necessitate any such 
change is made evident by comparison with the Electro, of 
Sophocles, a play which contains the same characters and 
the same general situations, but does not contain this dis- 
guise of Orestes. 

Sophocles uses disguise, but to no great advantage, in 
Philoctetes. The problem in this play is to get the famous 
arrows away from Philoctetes, a stratagem which is accom- 
plished through the guileful conversation and represen- 
tations of Neoptolemus, while his friend, disguised as a 
merchant, appears on the stage briefly and in an auxiliary 
capacity. Equally episodic is the disguise which Euripides 
uses in Rhesus. Dolon, in a wolf's skin, goes forth to spy 
on the enemy; but Dolon's death, which defeats his pur- 
pose, is not a dramatic consequence of the change of 
dress. 

The most dramatic disguise in extant Greek tragedy 
occurs in the Bacchce of Euripides, but even here the situa- 
tion is not skilfully handled. Bacchus, in the form of a 
mortal, and posing as a Bacchanalian devotee, is determined 
to compel King Pentheus to recognize Bacchus as a god. 
The king treats the supposed mortal with contempt and 
finally orders him imprisoned, whereupon the god exerts 
his supernatural power and wrecks the prison, almost kill- 
ing Pentheus. The god further exerts his power and causes 
the king to become partly insane. He induces him to don 
woman's clothes in order to spy on the Bacchse, a band of 
Bacchic revellers near the city. At the end of the play a 
messenger relates how the Bacchae had treated the disguised 
Pentheus as an intruder, and how the king had finally been 



ORIGIN AND EXTENT 33 

torn limb from limb by his own mother who insanely mis- 
took him for a beast of the chase. 

Technically the play is weak in that the female disguise 
of the king does not lead to much complication; further- 
more, neither the king's disguise nor his undisguising produces 
the denouement, his death. However, there is a good dra- 
matic effect in the mistake of Pentheus, who even denies the 
existence of the god Bacchus, a mistake of true tragic irony 
accomplished by the concealed identity of the hero. But 
playwrights of a later age could have improved upon this 
dramaturgy of Eupirides and produced greater theatrical 
value from the situation given. Especially would this have 
been true at the end of the play. It is surely a weakness 
in plot that the king is never informed of the real identity 
of his tormentor. 

It is difficult to generalize concerning the slight material 
in the four tragedies just treated. However, we observe 
that the situations under discussion do not resemble each 
other. We shall see presently that they are also unlike 
those in the comedies of Aristophanes. That is to say, we 
have no evidence that traditional disguise situations devel- 
oped in Greek drama. 

When we turn to Aristophanes we find that, although 
disguise played a considerable part in his comedies and, in 
one or two cases, may have been effective on the stage, it is 
not structurally basic anywhere. Let us remember that we 
use the word basic in a special sense; in no play of Aris- 
tophanes does a particular disguise produce both the compli- 
cation and resolution of the plot. 

We shall pass over a very incidental disguise in the 
Acharnians and note the plot of the Ecclesiazusce. Three 
Athenian women disguise themselves in their husbands' 
clothes and are about to enter the assembly to legislate 
woman's rights by stratagem. What now takes place off 



34 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

the stage is related by one of the outwitted husbands, who 
tells his wife (who listens with comic irony) that the assembly 
has voted that the state shall henceforth be ruled by women. 
The rest of the play does not involve the disguise. We note 
the theatrical insignificance of the motive in that the dis- 
guise action is not represented, but only reported as having 
taken place, that there is no undisguising before the audi- 
ence, and that the stratagem is never discovered. 

Aristophanes produced a more theatrical situation in the 
Thesmophoriazusce where Mnesilochus, disguised as a woman, 
is instructed to enter the assembly of the Thesmophoria, and 
to plead for Euripides, who has been accused of speaking ill 
of women. But the mimic ability of Mnesilochus fails, for, 
although he is instructed to "talk like a woman in your 
voice, well and naturally," he is discovered and arrested. 
Now this complication is solved rather cleverly by a second 
disguise. Euripides, disguised as a procuress, succeeds in 
entertaining the guard by a dancing girl. The supposed 
procuress offers to keep the prisoner while the guard and the 
girl are away and thus effects the rescue of Mnesilochus. 
These two situations are fundamentally comic and could be 
made very effective by skilful actors. 

Aristophanes produced another good situation in the 
laughable exchange of costumes in Frogs, a situation, how- 
ever, which, as far as the main plot is concerned, is really 
detachable. Dionysus, disguised as Heracles, goes to Hades 
to bring back Euripides. When he gets there a literary 
contest between Euripides and iEschylus takes place, with 
the result that the latter is chosen to ascend to earth with 
Dionysus. Such is the main plot. But when the hero first 
enters Hades a great deal of fun is produced by his exchan- 
ging costume and role with his slave, doubtless one of the 
earliest uses of the exchange motive. The reason for this 
exchange is that Dionysus, mistaken for Heracles, is vitupe- 



ORIGIN AND EXTENT 35 

rated in Hades by those who owe Heracles a grudge. The 
master gives his Heracles costume to the slave. But curi- 
ously enough the costume when worn by the slave draws 
the sweetest welcome of maidens. Dionysus now resumes 
the disguise and is immediately abused again as Heracles. 
Therefore he again commands his slave to wear the "lion's 
skin and club." This time the supposed Heracles is arrested 
and condemned, but offers his "slave" (Dionysus) to be 
tortured in his place. When the flogging is about to begin 
Dionysus declares his identity. This scene was no doubt 
fuimy, but if we examine the whole action we find that the 
situation is incidental to the main plot. 

We have thus seen that disguises in Greek tragedy and 
Old Comedy are infrequent and isolated ; and that the situ- 
ations, although more effective theatrically in the comedies 
than in the tragedies, are nowhere structurally basic or of 
great organic value. 

ii 

What the practice was in the New Comedy of Greece must 
be inferred by looking backward from Plautus and Terence. 
Menander used disguise in one plot out of the seven or eight 
we can attribute to him. He furnished the plots for Plautus's 
Bacchides, Stichus, and possibly Cistellaria; and for Terence's 
Andria, Heautontimorumenos, Adelphi, and Eunuchus. Of 
these plays only Eunuchus contains disguise. The fragments 
of Menander which have come down to us reveal no further 
use of the motive. 1 Philemon wrote the originals for 
Trinummus, 2 Mer color, and possibly Mostellaria by Plautus. 
None of these three plays contain disguise. Diphilus fur- 

1 See the edition by Professor Capps of Menander's four plays, the 
Hero, Epitrepontes, Periceiromene, and Samia. 

2 Trinummus, as well as Epidicus, has a misrepresentation of identity 
which I do not classify as disguise because there is no change of costume. 



36 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

nished the prototype for Plautus's Rudens, which contains 
no disguise, and for Casina with its boy bride situation so 
often imitated in later comedy. 

We cannot therefore make any positive general assertions 
for the three dramatists, Menander, Philemon, and Diphilus. 
But that there were some good disguise plots in that period 
is clear from Eunuchus, and Casina, already named, and from 
Miles Gloriosus, Captivi, and Amphitruo, whose sources can- 
not be definitely indicated. 

From whatever source Plautus drew, it is evident that he 
was fond of disguise; he established the motive as a dramatic 
device, giving it strength, as it were, for a flourishing career, 
in the comedy of the Renaissance. Terence has one dis- 
guise plot, Eunuchus. Seneca has none at all. 

Plautus sometimes used incidental disguises to help carry 
on intrigues. This is the case in Pseudolus, Asinaria, and 
Persa, plays which we shall not pause to discuss. He intro- 
duces disguise with fundamental functions in the four plays 
treated below. 

Amphitruo is the oldest plot in which disguise is basic 
in our special sense of the word. Jupiter's impersonation 
moves and controls the machinery of the plot. His dis- 
guises and those of his servant Mercury clearly initiate the 
action, and develop it; the revelation of identity by re- 
moving the disguise finally resolves the complication. Be- 
sides this architectural value, the disguise possesses great 
theatrical value to the comedians who present the laughable 
confusions of identity together with farcical cross-purposes 
and amazements. With Amphitruo disguise sprang into full 
power as a dramatic motive. Further, the play resulted in 
a dramatic tradition — a long column of lovers disguised as 
supposedly absent husbands. 3 

No less influential was Casina with its farcical boy bride 
3 Amphitruo and its influence is discussed in Chapter VIII. 



ORIGIN AND EXTENT 37 

situation. The disguise in this play, though not basic, was 
of great constructive value. 4 A clever scene in Miles Glori- 
osus is the prototype of similar ruses in Renaissance drama 
extending at least as far as Moliere's Medicin Volant. The 
braggart's captive girl one day entertains her lover, who has 
entered through a secret passage from a neighbor's house. 
A servant of the braggart happens to see them and is dis- 
tressed at the intrigue. But he is convinced by the lover's 
servant that he had seen, not the captive girl, but her twin 
sister who lodged next door. This twin was, of course, ficti- 
tious, and it now becomes necessary for the captive girl to 
play two parts, which she does, much to the confusion of 
the servant, by changing dresses quickly and by using the 
secret passage so that she may appear from either house 
according to the character she wishes to maintain. The 
opportunities for clever acting in this situation are obvious; 
structurally the disguise is important because it adds comic 
suspense to the fundamental problem of securing the girl's 
freedom. The disguise, however, is not basic, and is never 
discovered. The girl is finally able to escape with her lover, 
thanks to a trick of a different character played by the in- 
triguing servant on the braggart. 

In Captivi, a play of quiet humor and irony, disguise initi- 
ates, though it does not resolve, the main action. A noble- 
man and his servant have been made prisoners of war by 
Hegio. The servant agrees to impersonate his master, who 
in turn impersonates his servant and is in that capacity sent 
back to his country to negotiate for the release of Hegio's 
son, who is held by the enemy. When Hegio discovers the 
deception which caused him to send away the very man he 
intended to hold as a hostage, he wreaks vengeance on the 
disguised servant. The servant pleads for mercy on the 
ground that his duty lay in loyalty to his master rather than 
* Casina is discussed in Chapter V. 



38 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

in truthfulness to his captor. But no mercy is shown and 
the slave is loaded with heavy chains and dragged off to 
the stone quarries. In the end the noble returns with the 
ransomed son of Hegio, and also with evidence that the 
impersonating slave is really the long lost younger son of 
Hegio. 5 

Perhaps the resemblance between the exchange motive 
just described and that in the Frogs of Aristophanes has 
been noticed by the reader. If there were more such re- 
semblances among the disguise situations in Greek and 
Roman drama we might make a sort of classification and 
draw some conclusions in regard to literary relations. But 
the reader can tell by glancing back at the plots described 
in this chapter that traditional motives, so easy to trace in 
Renaissance drama, may in certain cases have their source 
in classic drama, but had not become familiar or traditional 
there. Thus we shall see how the boy bride motive in 
Casina prevails and develops in Italian and English drama. 
The disguised lover who impersonates the husband like Ju- 
piter in Amphitruo or a servant like Chserea in Terence's 
Eunuchus, often makes his entrance in Renaissance litera- 
ture. The fictitious twin appears again and again using 
much the same methods as the girl in Miles Gloriosus. The 
exchange motive is frequently employed. But the most im- 
portant motive of all, the female page, has no predecessor 
in classic drama. 

We have now seen that in classic drama disguise had 
been tested and found valuable as a dramatic motive, espe- 
cially in comedy. It only needed new conditions of stage 
representation, new dramatic stuff, and the tastes of a later 
and different civilization to produce numerous new situa- 

5 In Nash's Unfortunate Traveller (1594) the Earl of Surrey and Jack 
Wilton agree to exchange names and ranks while traveling on the 
continent. 



ORIGIN AND EXTENT 39 

tions, and to develop the old and the new alike until they 
became generally accepted as dramatic stock in trade. 

in 

The great vogue of disguise in Italian drama was due partly 
to the impulse given by Roman comedy, and partly to the 
influence of novelle. The situations borrowed from these 
sources were wrought into plots far more elaborate than any- 
thing produced by Plautus or Terence. Disguise was eagerly 
employed apparently because it facilitated the construction 
of highly involved plots of confusions and cross-purposes — 
intricate structures that are illustrative of dramatic taste in 
the Renaissance of Italy. The Plautian disguises are so 
frequently combined with disguises from novelle, especially 
with the female page situation, that we cannot proceed to 
the examination of the Italian plays until we have first 
explored the novelle and other early sources of dramatic 
stuff. After having gathered up our materials we can study 
the fixing of types, and incidentally the evolution of dramatic 
technic. 

Mr. R. Warwick Bond, in discussing the difference be- 
tween Italian and classic drama, 6 makes some valuable 
remarks on the Italian heroine. He says: "The chief 
change is in the position of the heroine. In Greek and 
Roman comedy, the scene being always in a public place, 
respectable unmarried girls could take no part. . . . But 
Italian custom, equally with classical, forbade the appear- 
ance of citizen's daughters in the streets; so that the drama 
would have lost, not gained, by the change in young men's 
taste, but for the device, introduced from the novelle, of pre- 
senting girls in male disguise." 

To find the ultimate source of this motive would be a 

6 Early Plays, xxxix. 



40 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

difficult problem in comparative literature; but a little 
investigation shows us that women disguised as men, often 
unrecognized by their husbands, are to be found earlier 
than the novelle in French romances, and earlier than the 
romances in Hindoo tales. 7 It is interesting to see that 
these early instances deal with married women, and that 
gradually in the novelle and in the drama the situation was 
shifted so as to involve unmarried girls, sometimes in in- 
trigues, but often in romantic love affairs, as in the case of 
Shakespeare's Julia, Rosalind, and Viola. 

The Twelfth Night plot, a typical female page motive, 
contains four elements, or narrative units. First, the dis- 
guised heroine seeks her husband or lover; second, she 
serves this man unrecognized; third, she acts as love mes- 
senger to a rival mistress; and fourth, some lady who be- 
lieves that the disguised person really is a man becomes the 
victim of a mistaken wooing. These four elements may be 
found scattered through half a dozen stories which ante- 
date the novelle. 

In a Hindoo story 8 by Somadeva, who flourished in the 
twelfth century, Kirtisena, the heroine, escapes from her 
cruel mother-in-law, flees disguised in male attire, and seeks 
her husband. In the course of adventures at a foreign court 
she finds her husband, reveals herself immediately, and lives 

7 A still earlier case of a girl disguised as a boy occurs in the Sanskrit 
play Viddha-s'ala-bhanjika by Rajas'ekhara, who lived about 900 a. d. 
(Schuyler, 11). A girl comes to a foreign court dressed as a boy. 
The Queen, thinking "he" really is a boy, disguises the stranger as a 
girl. The King falls in love with the newcomer, and the Queen en- 
courages the marriage, hoping to play a joke on her husband. At the 
wedding the supposed mock bride turns out to be a real bride. 

This, it will be seen, is a different type of plot from that of the female 
page following her lover; the chief difference being that the girl in the 
play is passive throughout. 

8 Story of Kirtisena, Brockhaus, 125. 



ORIGIN AND EXTENT 41 

happily ever after. Somadeva's story, together with the 
French Le Liure du tres Chevalereux Comte d'Artois et de sa 
Femme, and two Icelandic sagas (probably from French 
originals), have been cited as sources or analogues 9 of the 
ninth tale of the third day of the Decameron. 10 

The romance of Comte d'Artois is perhaps only a little 
older than the Decameron. It relates how Philip I. leaves 
his wife because they have no issue, and imposes severe 
conditions for his reunion with her. She follows disguised 
as a man, becomes his servant, wins his confidence, arranges 
for him a meeting with a princess, substitutes for her rival 
at this rendezvous, and finally bears him a son, thus fulfilling 
one of the conditions. 

The Icelandic Magus saga and Mirmans saga go back to 
1300 or earlier. The disguise situations (alike in these two 
stories) 11 tell of an emperor's abandoning his wife and impos- 
ing severe conditions of a reunion. The wife disguises as a 
knight and fights as an ally of her husband. The trick 
which later results in cohabitation need not concern us here. 
But the emperor does not learn of his wife's adventures 
until she relates her story and presents his son. 

A simple but effective female page disguise is used in the 
romance Du Roi Flore et de la Belle Jehane, a thirteenth cen- 
tury adaptation of an older romance in verse. 12 In this 
story Jehane, disguised as a squire, follows her departed 
husband and serves him seven years without being recog- 
nized. A more interesting situation develops in the ro- 
mance of Tristan de Nanteuil (sometimes called Gui de 

9 Landau, 145-150; Lee, 101-108. 

10 Boccaccio, however, disguises Giletta as a female pilgrim. Painter 
follows the Italian closely. Shakespeare in All's Well evidently means 
to represent his heroine in female garb. At any rate there is no dramatic 
confusion of any consequence in any of these three stories. 

11 Cederschiold, lxxxvi; Kolbing, 218. 

12 Landau, 136. 



42 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

Nanteuil), 13 which probably dates at the beginning of the 
thirteenth century. Tristan disguises his bride, Blanchan- 
dine, as a knight, and she accompanies him on adventures. 
At the sultan's court, a woman falls in love with, and mar- 
ries, the supposed knight. Blanchandine (who thinks that 
her husband Tristan is lost) avoids the revelation of her sex 
for several days and then prays God to save the situation 
by changing her into a man. The prayer is heard and the 
metamorphosis accomplished. 

It would doubtless be possible to multiply these examples 
by searching farther into medieval French romance. But 
we have already examined enough to see that the motive 
of the female page following her lover was known in Europe 
before the time of the Italian novelle. 

The fascinating situation of the lovelorn or venturesome 
heroine disguised as a page was frequently used in the prose 
tales of Boccaccio, Fiorentino, Salernitano, Straparola, and 
Bandello, ranging in time from 1358 to 1554. Boccaccio has 
a well-known parallel to Cymbeline in the Decameron, II, 9. u 
He has an unusual disguise story in the Decameron, II, 3, 
which was translated by Painter in the Palace of Pleasure 
(Tome I, 34). A gentleman falls into the train of a beauti- 
ful young abbot who is on his way to the pope. At an inn 
the gentleman is forced to occupy a small room adjoining the 
abbot's chamber. During the night the abbot calls in the 
young man and reveals herself as a woman, the daughter 
of the King of England. The youth and girl-abbot are 
married on the spot — the princess performing the religious 
ceremony herself. 

Fiorentino in IV, 1, of the Pecorone (begun in 1378 though 
not published until 1558), wrote a story which is closely 
paralleled in the Merchant of Venice. Pecorone, III, 1, has 
a disguise situation which results in mistaken wooing. A 

13 Meyer. 14 Cymbeline is discussed in Chapter IV. 



ORIGIN AND EXTENT 43 

lady disguised as a friar accompanies a priest, who, however, 
is not aware of his companion's sex. The two lodge with 
a widow, whose daughter mistakenly woos the girl-friar. 
The consequent happenings bring about the revelation of 
sex. 

Salernitano, in his Novellino (pr. 1476), has half a dozen 
novelle which show his interest in the female page disguise. 
Novella 11 tells of a shoemaker, who is so jealous of his wife 
that he takes her out only in the disguise of a medical stu- 
dent. The male apparel, however, only makes it easier for 
the wife to meet her lover. Novella 83, a version of the 
Romeo and Juliet story, has a heroine setting out in the 
costume of a friar. However, no mistake of identity en- 
sues. In Novella 89 Susanna, disguised as a man, takes 
service with a shipmaster, and follows her lover, whom she 
is eventually able to free from slavery. Novella Ifi is a 
very ingenious story of a gallant who cuckolds a man by 
disguising the wife as a youth and bringing her on board 
ship in the presence of the husband, who knows that the 
disguised person is a woman but thinks all the while that 
she is a neighbor's wife and not his own. 15 Novella 43 re- 
lates how a girl, condemned to death by her father because 
of a love affair, is set free by servants and escapes disguised 
as a man. She takes service with a nobleman but eventually 
returns and marries her lover. In Novelle 27 and 35 women 
disguise as men, but there seems to be no confusion of identity. 

A situation which reminds us of Philaster is found in 
Straparola's Tredeci Piacevolissime Notti, IV, 1 (pr. 1550). 
Costanza, an athletic girl, seeking adventures in the dis- 
guise of a man, takes service at a royal court. The queen 
falls in love with the girl-man and makes advances, which, 

16 Chapman's May Day (IV, 7 and 8) has an ironical situation 
similar to this. May Day was adapted from Italian, as we shall indicate 
below.. 



44 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

however, are resisted. Eventually Costanza's identity and 
the queen's misbehavior are revealed. The queen is burned 
and Costanza becomes the new queen. An interesting dis- 
covery made at the end of the story is that the queen's wait- 
ing maids are really men — her paramours. 

Bandello's novels published in 1554 contain a plot (77, 36) 
which seems to be indirectly a source of Twelfth Night. 
However, Bandello was himself indebted to an Italian play, 
GV Ingannati, for the plot. He uses a similar disguise situa- 
tion in /, 18, and a very simple disguise in II, 27. 

From the medieval romances and novels, as we have seen, 
came the most popular disguise motive in English drama. 
The disguised heroine was transferred from the novel to the 
stage by the methods learned from Plautus and Terence, 
dramatists who had shown how theatrically effective anal- 
ogous disguise situations could be. The novels also con- 
tributed the disguised spy, as well as the female page, to 
dramatic literature. The disguised spy is more important 
in English, than in Italian drama, and will be discussed in 
Chapter VII. Medieval narratives also presented disguised 
lovers, men dressed as women, and exchanges of costumes, 
but these motives in non-dramatic literature are interesting 
to us only as analogues to the situations inherited by dra- 
matists directly from Plautus. 

Italian drama then has a double inheritance. It derives 
dramatic stuff from romances, novelle, and other tales, as 
well as from classic drama; it borrows technical methods 
from Plautus and Terence. From this inheritance it develops 
a distinctive practice of its own. The Italian method is 
to combine materials and to elaborate the action. Thus any 
given play might consist of various disguise situations spun 
together into a highly intricate plot of much confusion, cross 
purpose, and involution. Although we realize that this 
type of plot does not allow character growth or portraiture, 



ORIGIN AND EXTENT 45 

or comic emphasis on any one situation, and besides has 
a tendency to descend into farce, yet we must admit that it 
results in intricate action accelerated by many surprises and 
guaranteeing against dull moments while the play is in 
progress. 

Nowhere is the Italian method of elaborating a plot 
better illustrated than in Dovizi da Bibbiena's comedy 
La Calandria, acted in 1513 (Bond, xvii). The ground- 
work is the Mencechmi situation. But the playwright has 
made the twins brother and sister. Then he has multiplied 
the Plautian confusions by introducing disguise, enabling the 
girl to appear as a boy, and the boy as a girl. The conse- 
quence is a mistake of sex as well as of person. Santilla, 
posing as a boy, and using her brother Lidio's name, has 
had an insistent offer of marriage before the play begins; 
and during the play is constantly mistaken for her brother. 
The latter disguises as a girl while engaged in an intrigue 
with a married woman by the name of Fulvia; and Fulvia's 
husband, Calandro, is head over heels in love with this 
supposed girl. To make matters still worse Fulvia is part 
of the time disguised as a man, and SantihVs servant is 
part of the time disguised as a woman. When we remember 
that the twin motive is in itself sufficiently confusing, we 
can realize how much more intricate the plot becomes when 
involved with a female page, disguised lovers, and a male 
mistress situation. 

The play just described is, so far as I can discover, the 
earliest Italian play containing a female page. A twin 
brother and sister, the latter disguised like her brother, 
appear again in an influential and much discussed play, 
GV Ingannati, which was acted in 1531. This play has 
been translated by Thomas Love Peacock (Works, 1875, 
vol. 3), and synopses of the plot are not hard to find among 
discussions of Twelfth Night and its sources. We shall con- 



46 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

tent ourselves here with showing in what respects it is more 
complicated than Twelfth Night. 

In Twelfth Night Viola enters the action without any- 
initial entanglement. She has not even seen the duke. 
GV Ingannati opens with Lelia in danger of being married 
off to old Gherardo. She is in love with Flaminio, who, 
however, has forgotten her. (Flaminio corresponds to 
Shakespeare's duke.) He is in love with Isabella, who 
is the daughter of old Gherardo, Lelia's confident suitor. 
This triangular relation between Lelia, Gherardo, and Isa- 
bella has no corresponding complication in Twelfth Night. 

Lelia dresses as page, serves Flaminio as love messenger 
to Isabella, is mistakenly wooed by Isabella, and hears 
herself denounced by Flaminio, who, of course, does not 
recognize his page. This, owing to the love affair which 
had begun before the plaj^ is somewhat more complex than 
Twelfth Night. 16 

Another complication not in Twelfth Night is the result 
of supposed disguise. Gherardo, the old suitor, and Vir- 
ginio, the father of Lelia, have both heard of her disguise. 
Consequently, when the twin brother appears on the scene, 
they, (thinking he is Lelia disguised) chastise him by locking 
him up with Isabella! The subsequent confusions completely 
mystify the two fathers, Isabella, and her servant, Lelia's 
nurse, and the lover Flaminio. 17 

The influence of GV Ingannati through the novels of 
Bandello and Montemayor; through the Italian plays 
GV Inganni and II Viluppo; through Lope de Rueda's 

16 Some of these scenes in GV Ingannati are rather closely paralleled 
in the Two Gentlemen. See Chapter IV. 

17 Note that the presence of two extra suitors in Shakespeare's 
play, namely, Sir Andrew and Malvolio, does not really produce much 
additional complication. The scenes they appear in are character 
comedy rather than plot comedy. 



ORIGIN AND EXTENT 47 

Enganos, and Calderon's Espanola de Florencia; through 
French translations and the Cambridge Latin play Lcelia, 
and many other adaptations was wide and persistent. It 
would require considerable time and skill to analyze and 
study those plots thoroughly, and to ascertain their rela- 
tions with Twelfth Night. 18 These plays are all skilful varia- 
tions of the MenoBchmi situation, the Plautian effects being 
intensified by substituting the girl disguised as a boy for 
one of the twins. 

In fact it is evident that all Italian plays containing girls 
disguised as boys are in causal relation with each other in 
varying degrees. But we must dismiss this disguise tempo- 
rarily, merely appending in a footnote a few more titles to 
prove the popularity of the motive. 19 

Thus we have seen how familiar the disguised heroine 
following her lover had become in Italy in the sixteenth 
century. This disguise, as we have pointed out, was not 
inherited from classic drama. We shall now turn to a 
motive which came to Italian literature directly from the 
Casina of Plautus. The farcical situation of a sinewy youth 
dressed as a girl and married off to some amorous fool is 
not uncommon in Italian drama. 

18 For bibliography see Anders, 70; and Rosenberg, xviii-xxviii. 
See also the discussion of Twelfth Night in Chapter IV. 

19 Female pages, in most cases involved with other interesting dis- 
guise situations, occur in the following Italian plays in addition to those 
already mentioned: Dolci's Ragazzo (1541); Aretino's Talanta (1542); 
Piccolomini's Alessandro (1550), the source of Chapman's May Day; 
Ruzzante's Anconitana (1551); Calmo's Travaglia (1556); Parabosco's 
Fantesca (before 1557); Piccolomini's Ortensio (1560); Cecchi's Pelle- 
grine (1567); Secco's Interesse (1581), to which Moliere's Depit Amou- 
reux is indebted; Grazzini's Parentadi (1582); Cinthio's Arrenopia 
(before 1573), a reworking of his own novel which served as the source 
of Greene's James IV; Cecchi's Rivali (before 1587); Guarini's Pastor 
Fido (1585); Giusti's Fortunio (1593); and della Porta's Cintia (1606), 
the Italian version of the Cambridge Latin play, Labyrinthus. 



48 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

In 1501 Girolamo Berrardo produced Cassina, an adapta- 
tion of Plautus's play. He retained the Plautian farcical 
stuff, and made a considerable improvement in technic by- 
bringing the maiden in question actually upon the stage. 
He also knit the plot somewhat more firmly by making the 
rival lovers father and son. In Machiavelli's Clizia, pro- 
duced 1525, this latter change was adopted. But Clizia, 
like Plautus's Casina, does not come out upon the boards. 
In fact, Machiavelli narrates all of the disguise situations 
instead of really acting them. Thus, in act V, scene 2, 
after we have already been told a number of times that old 
Nicomaco is being gulled by a boy bride, the old man comes 
out and tells us in an extended speech how he had gone to 
bed with the supposed Clizia and, after much trouble and 
violence, had been shocked and shamed to discover that he 
was dealing with a man servant in disguise. 20 

Berrardo and Macchiavelli served as intermediaries be- 
tween Plautus and Dolce, whose Ragazzo (1541) presents 
an old man and his son in love with the same girl. The 
intriguers palm off a disguised youth on the father, while 
the son joins the heroine. 

Farcical meetings between a bridegroom and a boy bride 
occur in Aretino's Marescalco (pr. 1533), and in della Porta's 
Fantesca, which we shall analyze below. Mistaken wooings 
of disguised boys are presented in Bibbiena's Calandria, the 
plot of which has been indicated above; also in Parabosco's 
Fantesca (before 1557), and in della Porta's Cintia, whose 
Latin adaptation is analyzed in the following chapter. 21 

It often happens that gallants in furthering their intrigues 

20 Symonds makes the remark (II, 187) that Gelli in his Errore 
"closely followed the Clizia." This is a mistake, for, as Rein- 
hardstottner has shown (383-384), there is practically no resemblance 
in the plots. 

21 See page 81. 



ORIGIN AND EXTENT 49 

employed female disguises, as in Calandria, in order to reach 
their mistresses unmolested. In the form of chambermaid 
or duenna the lover attracted no attention and hoped to 
enjoy the fullest protection. Disguised lovers are frequent 
in Italian drama. I have found them in twenty-five plays, 
and it would probably not be very difficult to find twenty- 
five more. 22 

A number of other types of disguise appear somewhat less 
frequently than the three we have already discussed. For 
example, Ruzzante's Moschetta (1551) presents the spying 
husband. A husband, disguised as a student, tempts his 
own wife. She yields; but when she discovers the identity 
of her intended paramour she declares that she had known 
him from the beginning. Other spy motives occur in 
Grazzini's Gelosia (1550-1566), and in Bentivoglia's Geloso, 
which is indebted to Grazzini. 

Let us finish our account of the Italian drama by analyz- 
ing della Porta's Fantesca, published in 1592, thus contem- 
porary with the Two Gentlemen of Verona. It combines a 
number of traditional motives, 23 and illustrates, moreover, 
the intricate involution which we have noted as a distinctive 
quality of the Italian drama of intrigue. 

Fantesca 

Act I. Essandro, disguised as a maid, calling himself 
Fioretta, serves Cleria, with whom he is in love. Cleria 
does not suspect "Fioretta's " sex. " Fioretta" has told her 
of a "twin brother," and, posing as this "brother," has 
wooed Cleria. Cleria sends "Fioretta" to the "twin 

22 See references to these plays in Chapter VIII. 

23 We find the following traditional motives in the order named : male 
maid, disguised lover, twin, mistaken wooing, supposed girl locked up 
with a girl, doubles, beard, beating, and recognition. 



50 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

brother" saying she is willing to flee with him. This action 
is planned by Cleria in order to escape marrying Cintio, her 
father's choice. Meanwhile, Cleria's father, Gerasto, is in 
love with "Fioretta." 

Act II. Essandro, posing as the "twin brother," ar- 
ranges with Cleria to enter her chamber secretly. Mean- 
while, Gerasto (Cleria's father) talks during an amorous 
dream about "Fioretta." His wife immediately locks up 
"Fioretta" together with Cleria, where the lover reveals 
himself to his lady. But Cintio, the favored suitor, is still 
an obstacle. His father, Narticoforo, is expected any day 
to make arrangements with Gerasto for Cleria's marriage. 
In order to cross this negotiation, Essandro plans to disguise 
a servant as Narticoforo and an ugly dwarf as Cintio, 
hoping thus to incur Gerasto's disapproval of Cintio as a 
son-in-law. 

Act III. But when the supposed Narticoforo presents 
his supposed son, whose vile smell and dwarfed and impo- 
tent body make him absolutely repulsive as a husband, 
Gerasto declares that his daughter shall have him never- 
theless. Now the real Narticoforo and son are announced, 
and Essandro tries another counter-plot. He himself dis- 
guises as Gerasto, and the dwarf disguises as Cleria, and, 
thus prepared, they receive the strangers. The supposed 
Gerasto presents his supposed Cleria, explaining that, 
besides her unattractiveness, she is physically unable to 
serve in the capacity of a wife. The representations dis- 
gust Narticoforo and his son, and the trick promises to be 
successful. Meanwhile Gerasto continues wooing "Fioretta." 

Act IV. Presently the real Narticoforo meets the real 
Gerasto. Each (having met impersonators) insists that the 
other is an impostor. These deceptions have already in- 
volved a number of other characters, and much confusion 
of the Amphitruo and Suppositi type follows. A comedy 



ORIGIN AND EXTENT 51 

duel is fought, or rather threatened, by braggart Spaniards 
acting as proxies for the two fathers. "Fioretta" is still 
pursued by Gerasto. 

Act V. Gerasto relates that when he tried to embrace 
"Fioretta" he felt the moustache of a vigorous youth, who 
kicked him in the abdomen. After revelations of identities 
and recognitions of lost relatives the play ends. Essandro 
wins his Cleria, and Cintio receives her younger sister. 

Such is the plot of a typical Italian disguise play. The 
reader may observe for himself that numerous old situations 
are combined and that the action is elaborated by sharp 
turns and ingenious windings. 

From the regular Italian drama traditional motives, such 
as disguise, were borrowed freely by the commedia delV arte. 
This species of comedy with its fixed types of character 
very naturally depended on fixed situations, and, through 
great popularity, helped to crystallize and perpetuate many 
disguises, especially the female page and the disguised lover. 
What the influence of the elusive commedia delV arte was 
upon English is now difficult to determine. Miss Smith has 
shown 24 that Ben Jonson is indebted to a commedia delV 
arte for the mountebank scene in Volpone. Perhaps many 
English plays are indebted to commedie delV arte which 
have not survived. We shall not go into these matters in 
detail, but shall simply give in a foot-note a classification of 
some fifteen disguise plots in this interesting department of 
Italian drama. 25 

24 Commedia dell' Arte, 187. 

25 A number of disguises occur in the scenarios of commedie dell' 
arte published in the Scala Collection, 1611. Female pages appear in 
La Fortuna di Flavio, Gior. II (see summary by Miss Smith in Mod. 
Phil. VIII, 567); La Finta Pazza, Gior. VIII; II Marito, Gior. IX; 
La Sposa, Gior. X; II Capitano, Gior. XI; II Pellegrino Fido Amante, 
Gior. XIV; La Travagliata Isabella, Gior. XV; La Specchio, Gior. XVI; 
and Li Tre Fidi Amid, Gior. XIX. See also a slight female page 



52 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

We have thus glanced at the rise and development of the 
disguise motive through classic drama, medieval romances, 
Italian novelle, and Italian drama into the age of Shakespeare. 
It will be seen in the following chapters that English play- 
wrights were heavily indebted to their predecessors or con- 
temporaries in Italy. But it will also be noted that, despite 
this indebtedness, much originality and independence was 
shown, not only in reshaping old situations, but in produ- 
cing new devices for dramatic effects. 

IV 

But before going on to the study of English plays we 
may profit by glancing at the disguise plots in a few other 
literatures. 

The Italian influence on French drama deserves a word or 
two here. French drama of the sixteenth century is not of 
much consequence. The most noted playwright during 
that period in France was Pierre Larivey, who died in 1611, 
He wrote nine comedies. Four of these are disguise plays, 
and all four are either translated or adapted from Italian. 26 
Le Laquais contains the female page and male mistress 
motive of Dolce's Ragazzo. Le Morfondu borrows the spy 

motive in Li Tragici Successi, translated by Miss Smith in Mod. Phil. 
VII, 217-220. 

Lovers disguised as doctors may be found in La Finta Pazza, Gior. 
VIII; Li Due Capitani Simili, Gior. XVIII; and in Li Due Fidi Notari, 
Gior. XX. Lovers disguised as women are found in II Marito, Gior. 
IX, and in II Doctor Disperato, Gior. XIII. Other lover disguises are 
used in II Vecchio Geloso, Gior. VI, and in II Pellegrino Fido Amante, 
Gior. XIV. 

There is a male mistress motive in La Creduta Morta, Gior. VII, 
besides the two resulting in the cases of the lovers disguised as women. 

The above information is based on analyses kindly loaned me by 
Dr. Winifred Smith. 
26 Macgillivray, 26-39. 



ORIGIN AND EXTENT 53 

and lover disguise from La Gelosia of Grazzini. Le Fidelle 
is from Pasqualigo's Fedele, which was translated into English 
by Anthony Munday under the title Fidele and Fortunio. 
And Les Tromperies is a translation of Secchi's Inganni, 
which contains a female page and mistaken wooing. 

Larivey is typical of his period and shows that the tradi- 
tions of disguise situations in French plays came from Italy. 
The native medieval drama evidently did not use the motive. 
I have found only one disguise plot 27 in the three collections 
of farces published by Fournier, Lacroix, and Mabille re- 
spectively. 

The use of disguise in Spanish literature was no less popu- 
lar than in Italian. It would be an endless task to discuss 
all the various disguise plays in Spanish. But we shall at 
least put the student of drama in the way of seeing for 
himself the wide use of the effective intrigue motive which 
forms the subject of our special study in English 
drama. 

Montemayor's romance La Diana seems to be the source 
of Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen. Cervantes's novel, Las 
Dos Donzellas was adapted by Fletcher as Love's Pilgrimage. 
We have already mentioned Lope de Rueda's play Los 
Enganos, an adaptation of GV Ingannati. In Medora 
(before 1566), another play by Rueda, we have a boy mas- 
querading as a girl. Cristobal de Virues's tragedy La 
Gran Semiramis presents the heroine in male attire. Cer- 
vantes's comedy El Laberinto de Amor is a veritable maze 
of disguises. In this play Julia and Porcia first disguise as 
shepherds, then as students. Porcia next appears as a peas- 
ant, then as a peasant girl (at the desire of Anastasio, thus 
constituting a "retro-disguise," since he thinks she is a 

27 La Farce de Munyer, by Andre de la Vigne. A priest poses as 
the cousin of a dying miller, and pretends to comfort the miller, but 
incidentally feasts with the wife. 



54 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

peasant boy). Presently she exchanges clothing with a 
princess. Porcia thus appears in five different disguises. 
Since the men also are disguised the play becomes a tangle 
of mistaken identities. 

Overingenuity of plot evidently pleased the Spanish audi- 
ences as much as it did the Italian. If we look at Calderon's 
Espanola de Florencia, mentioned above as a play in the 
Ingannati cycle, we shall find Lucrecia serving her fickle 
lover as page, carrying messages to a rival mistress, who falls 
in love with the page — all this as in Twelfth Night. But 
we shall find increasing bewilderment. Lucrecia-page con- 
vinces the rival mistress that she (the page) is really the 
twin brother. Next Lucrecia impersonates the rival mis- 
tress in a meeting with her master and lover. Resuming her 
role as page Lucrecia suggests to her lover that he woo his 
page as though "he" were Lucrecia. This, by the way, 
reminds us of the mock marriage in As You Like It. In the 
next act Lucrecia divests herself of man's apparel, with the 
result that when the twin brother actually does appear 
every one thinks it is Lucrecia back in disguise again. 
Before the end of the play the heroine, disguised as a fortune- 
teller, tells her own story of love and suffering, and reveals 
herself only when her lover has become sufficiently im- 
pressed by her story. 

Calderon uses the disguised heroine in many other plays. 
For example, in La Vida Es Sueno Rosaura, the heroine of 
the underplot, appears in man's clothing. In Amor, Honor 
y Poder Flerida, the Infanta, appears veiled, and in a night- 
dress above man's clothing — a subtle disguise! In La Devo- 
tion de la Cruz Julia is dressed as a man. In La Gran Cenobia 
Irene appears disguised as a peasant. El Joseph de las Mu- 
geres presents Eugenia disguised as a man. She is tempted 
by Melancia, who thinks her a young man. Eugenia-man 
escapes, and her temptress, like Potiphar's wife, accuses her; 



ORIGIN AND EXTENT 55 

but the charges are reduced to absurdity by the revelation 
of sex. 

Tirso de Molina (Tellez, G.) was another seventeenth 
century dramatist who delighted in the disguise motive. 
Schack (III, 413) says that the disguised damsel serving 
her fickle lover as page was a favorite character with him. 
The plays he mentions as typical are Don Gil de las Colzas 
Verdes, El Amor Medico, and La Huerta de Juan Fernandez. 28 

Lope de Vega has a large number of plays in which disguise 
is used as the basic motive. With him too the disguised 
heroine was popular. In one play, Las Batuecas del Duque 
de Alba (1618), a female page wanders by accident into the 
domain of the Batuecas, a fabulous people. A maiden woos 
her, but is discouraged in her suit by the fact that the female 
page one day gives birth to a child. The Batuecas believe 
they have discovered a specimen of a strange race whose 
men are able to bear children. In El Alcalde Mayor (1620) 
the disguised Rosarda plays a role somewhat like that of 
Portia in the Merchant of Venice. 29 

The lover disguised as a gardener is a device of which the 
Spanish dramatists never tired. 30 It is found in Calderon's 
Selva Confusa; in Tirso de Molina's Quien Hablo, Pago, and 
in his Huerta de Juan Fernandez; also in Lope de Vega's 
Soldado Amante, and in his Hidalgo Bencerraje. The lover 
appears as dancing master in Lope's Maestro de Danzar, and 
as private tutor in El Domine Lucas. A romantic love mo- 

28 Bourland (xv) says that the following plays of Tirso also contain 
female pages: Averiguelo Vargas, La Mujer por Fuerza, La Villana de 
la Sagra, and La Villana de Vallecas. 

29 See Hennigs, 57. Other plays by Lope de Vega, which contain 
traditional female page situations are Las Burlas y Enredos de Benito 
(1600), El Ingrato Arrepentido (1600), El Ginoves Liberal (1614), La 
Gallarda Toledana (1616), Quien Mas no Puede (1616), El Hidalgo 
Bencerraje (1621), Las Ramirez de Arellano (1641), and Mas Pueden 
Celos que Amor (undated). 30 Northup, 176. 



56 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

tive occurs in Lope's Ilustre Fregona (adapted from Cer- 
vantes's novel of the same name). In this play a cavalier 
falls in love with a beautiful serving maid and, in order to 
woo her, exchanges position with his own servant. The 
wooing is successful and the play ends happily by the dis- 
covery that the maid really is of noble birth. 

Disguised spies may be seen in Lope's Bella Mai Maridada 
(1600), Ausente en el Lugar (1617), and in El Mejor Alcalde 
el Rey (1635). The latter play is a version of the Measure 
for Measure plot. 31 

A very familiar stage business in Spanish drama was the 
muffling of the face by a cloak, or, in the case of ladies, by a 
veil. This temporary concealment of identity, however, did 
not usually affect the progress of the plot. It was merely a 
bit of acting characteristic of the cloak-and-sword comedy. 

Perhaps this allusive account of Spanish plays will suffice 
to emphasize the general thesis that disguise was a basic, 
well-worn device in Renaissance comedy. England in litera- 
ture, especially with respect to this one particular motive, 
first rivalled Italy whence she drew her cultural inspiration, 
and then Spain whom she respected as a once formidable 
enemy. In all three nations the comedy of romantic in- 
trigue was absorbing the energies and interests of play- 
wrights and playgoers; and, however the three literatures 
differed in method, they had in common one feature, the 
use of dramatic disguise. 32 

With the above brief survey of the origin and extent of 

31 See synopsis in Wurzbach, 159. 

82 Professor Jackson has pointed out interesting disguise plots in 
Sanskrit drama from the first half of the seventh century to the tenth 
century. In studying the plays indicated by him I have found con- 
siderable resemblance to Occidental drama. The Viddha-s' alabhan- 
jika of Rajas'ekhara is a curious parallel to the complicated plot in 
Jonson's New Inn. (See Chapter IV, page 88). This Sanskrit play 
has been mentioned above (page 40) as probably the first drama to 



ORIGIN AND EXTENT 57 

dramatic disguise we shall close the prehminary investigation 
and proceed to a more intimate study of the English plays 
before 1616. Our special interest is not in determining 
where the Elizabethan playwrights got their disguise situa- 
tions, but in tracing out the career of these motives in a lim- 
ited but busy period of the London drama. Let us therefore 
merely summarize the acknowledged foreign debt of English 
dramatic disguises. Ovid furnished the basis of the dis- 
guise plot in Gallathea. Spanish novels contributed the 
disguises in the Two Gentlemen and in Love's Pilgrimage. 
Italian novels are the ultimate sources of the Merchant of 
Venice, Cymbeline, and James IV. Italian plays were 
adapted or drawn upon for the Supposes, Twelfth Night, 
May Day, The Shrew, and Albumazar. Amphitruo is adapted 
in the Silver Age and the Birth of Hercules; and the influence 
of Plautus is strong in Jack Juggler, What You Will, and 
Epicozne. 

The reckoning of the total score against English drama 
can never be made because of the large number of non- 
extant English plays that were doubtless heavily indebted 
to Italian. Furthermore, there are probably a number of 
lost Italian plays to which both extant and non-extant 
English plays were indebted. It is my hope that the con- 
siderable number of parallels brought together, or indicated, 
in this volume may be of definite value to those scholars 
who are interested in tracing out the literary ancestry of 
plays, not only in English but in other languages as well. 

present a girl disguised as a boy. Mock marriages to boy brides occur 
in the play just mentioned, and in Malati and Madhava by Bhavabhuti. 
The love intrigue in Sri-Harsha Deva's Ratnavali presents a doubles 
situation that reminds us of similar motives in Latin and Renaissance 
drama. The king has planned an assignation with a lady who was to 
come to a bower disguised as the queen. The queen by chance comes 
to this bower first and is mistaken as the disguised lady. This results 
in confusion and disclosure of the intended amour. Political spying 
occurs in Mudra-rakshasa by Vis-akha-datta. 



58 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

But the Elizabethan dramatists did not always borrow 
their disguises. A strong evidence of their interest in the 
disguise motive is furnished by the numerous cases where 
they borrowed a plot which did not contain disguise and 
enriched its dramatic and theatrical value by the addi- 
tion of that complication. Thus Whetstone added the 
female page and spy motives to a plot borrowed from 
Cinthio. Greene used disguises in Orlando Furioso, and 
Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay which he did not find in 
his sources. Marston's multi-disguise in the Dutch Cour- 
tesan is his own contribution to a rogue who inherits other 
gifts from Painter's Palace of Pleasure. Chapman showed 
considerable skill in altering a story from Petronius by intro- 
ducing disguise. Beaumont and Fletcher brought disguise 
to the Spanish story they used in the Coxcomb, and Fletcher's 
Monsieur Thomas has a disguise not contained in the sources. 
And Shakespeare, though he usually found his disguise plot 
all ready for him, seems to be independent of his sources 
in the Kent motive of King Lear, in the Don Pedro disguise 
of Much Ado, and in the spying father of the Winter's Tale. 
Many other plays, as for example, Soliman and Perseda, 
Patient Grissil, the Dumb Knight, and the Widow, contain 
disguises not found in their sources. 

Yet these plays are not entirely original in the disguise 
situations introduced, for when we study them in the various 
settings of similar contemporary plays it will be seen that, 
although the dramatists were independent of the direct 
sources of their plots, they were usually dependent on the 
traditional disguise situations which were being successfully 
presented on the stage during that period. 

When it comes to the question of absolute originality it 
is dangerous to make any positive assertions. Some of the 
important disguise plays for which I have found no sources 
are Sir Clyomon and Sir Clamydes, Soliman and Perseda, the 



ORIGIN AND EXTENT 59 

Wise Woman of Hogsdon, Philaster, London Prodigal, and 
the Malcontent. These plays seem to have evolved out of 
suggestions in other English plays which preceded them by 
a short time. The four curious multi-disguise plays dis- 
cussed in Chapter VI have as yet not been related to any 
definite parallels. 

As specimens of English originality in disguise motivation 
I have already 33 suggested two things, the surprise motive, 
and the combination of surprise and retro-disguise, situations 
which come in for detailed discussion in succeeding chapters. 

Although the arbitrary terminus of our special study is 
1616, we shall glance at many other plays before the closing of 
the theaters. The career of the disguise motive in England 
subsequent to 1642 is not especially fascinating. It seems 
to be used more or less as an outworn convention. The 
female page appears, for example, in Dryden's Rival Ladies, 
in Otway's Caius Marius, and in Wycherly's Country Wife 
and Plain Dealer. Congreve's Double Dealer has a spying 
husband, and his Mourning Bride contains some rather inter- 
esting disguises. There is a disguised spy in Steele's Tender 
Husband. Disguised lovers may be found in Addison's Cato; 
in Steele's Funeral, or Grief a la Mode, and in his Conscious 
Lovers; in Sheridan's Scheming Lieutenant, and in his Critic. 
A ridiculous use of the lover disguise is in Three Hours After 
Marriage by Gay, Pope, and Arbuthnot, where two lovers 
gain access to their mistress, disguised respectively as a 
mummy and a crocodile. 

In the contemporary theater we have recently seen two 
interesting uses of disguise with a symbolic function. In 
Kennedy's Servant in the House the leading figure, Manson, 
is disguised as a servant from a foreign land. The conceal- 
ment of identity, however, is of slight importance compared 
with the fact that Manson is carefully conceived to look, 
33 See Chapter II, page 12. 



60 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

think, and talk like the Son of Man. As a counterpart to 
this drama Molnar's Devil exhibits Satan embodied as a 
shrewd and wily man, the friend of a couple on the verge 
of sin. In this play, too, the symbolism is paramount to 
the disguise. Strictly speaking there is no disguise at all, 
for the man never changes his appearance. 

For the serious drama of our contemporary stage the de- 
vice of disguise unaided by symbolism seems perhaps too 
slight a thing to alter the state of a play. Besides we are 
selling our imagination for a mess of realism. The masters 
of the factitious give us stage fixtures which are genuine as 
those actually used in real life, or, if not genuine, are at 
least most cleverly imitated. Therefore the average critical 
taste of today encounters a dilemma in a doubles situation. 
Unless the impersonation is real enough to deceive it is not 
convincing. And if it is perfectly deceiving it is likely to 
victimize the audience as well as the people in the play and 
is therefore not ideally entertaining. Furthermore, we, the 
auditors of today, demand that the people in a play shall 
have as good eyesight and powers of perception as we. We 
insist that our wives and sweethearts could not for any 
noticeable length of time make us believe that they were 
schoolboys or Russian generals, and we would lose sympathy 
with any one else who could be easily gulled. 

If we turn from the photographic realism of the modern 
social play and seek out the "ten, twenty and thirty cent" 
melodrama, we may find some detective in picturesque dis- 
guise; or if we look to the romantic improbabilities of light 
opera or musical comedy we may find a lover or lady fair 
concealing their identities in tinselled masquerade; but 
somehow it all seems tawdry. Perhaps the playwright and 
auditor alike have lost the naivete and the unquestioning 
imagination which inspired the poetic product of English 
genius in the spacious days of Queen Bess. 



CHAPTER IV 
THE FEMALE PAGE 

Dost thou think, though I am caparison'd like 
a man, I have a doublet and hose in my disposition? 

— As You Like It 



Starting from medieval French romance, and threading 
her way through the novels or plays of Italy, the heroine 
in hose and doublet at last reached the England of Shake- 
speare, where she became the most graceful and charming 
figure on the stage. 1 Perhaps in real life, too, the female 
page sometimes wandered through merry England. Queen 
Elizabeth herself once listened to an ambassador who offered 
to convey her secretly to Scotland, dressed like a page, in 
order that she might under this disguise see Queen Mary. 
Elizabeth appeared to like the plan, but answered with a 
sigh, saying "Alas! If I might do it thus!" 2 At any rate 
we shall see that as a literary tradition, in the novels and on 
the stage, the disguised heroine was already established in 
England when Shakespeare wrote his Two Gentlemen of 
Verona. 

By that time the female page had often appeared in non- 
dramatic literature in English. Rich's Apolonius and 
Silla, the second novel in his Farewell, had used substan- 
tially the plot of Twelfth Night as early as 1581. The eighth 

1 Some illuminating remarks on the disguised heroine as a character 
are made by Marie Gothein in Die Frau im englischen Drama vor Shakes- 
peare, Jahrb., xl., 35. 

2 MelviUe, 106. 

61 



62 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

novel, entitled Phylotus and Emelia, has the same female 
page plot as the anonymous comedy Philotus, which was 
printed in 1603, but which may be as early as Rich's novel. 3 
Sidney's Arcadia in 1590 told of Zelmane-page following 
Pyrocles unrewarded. And in the same year Lodge's 
Rosalynde presented the disguised heroine whom Shake- 
speare adopted. The prototype of Julia could have been 
found a decade earlier than the Two Gentlemen in the manu- 
script of Yonge's translation of Montemayor's Diana. A 
dozen of the ballads published by Percy or Child sing the 
fortunes of the lady disguised in male attire. Some of 
these too must have antedated and influenced the drama 
of Shakespeare and his contemporaries. 4 

In order to show to what extent Shakespeare was influ- 
enced by stage traditions in choosing and elaborating the 
Julia disguise, we shall examine a number of female page 
plays produced in England before the Two Gentlemen. We 
shall see that Shakespeare profited by the weaknesses as 
well as by the merits of these plays. If he borrowed 
the potency of certain disguise situations, he invariably 
improved their dramatic efficiency. 

As early as 1569-70 a Latin play, Byrsa Basilica, 5 had 
presented a girl in the apparel of a boy. The disguise is 
quite incidental, merely affording the heroine a method of 
escape from an awkward predicament. 6 

George Whetstone's Promos and Cassandra, which was 
printed in 1578, but was never acted, contains perhaps -the 
earliest female page situation in the vernacular drama. 
Cassandra enters "apparelled like a page" (Part I, III, 7), 

3 See Chapter V, page 113. 

4 Ziige, 6, 71. 

6 Churchill and Keller, 281. We cannot say where this play was 
acted. 

6 A brief summary of the plot is given in Chapter V. 



THE FEMALE PAGE 63 

soliloquizes a few lines and goes out to keep her appointment 
with Lord Promos. She never reappears, nobody sees her, 
and no complication results from the disguise. It is worthy 
of note that this disguise is not in the novel on which Whet- 
stone based his play. 7 He was thus the first of many English- 
men who added disguise to plots borrowed from other 
literatures. 

Sir Clyomon and Sir Clamydes,* although not printed until 
1599, may have been written as early as Promos and Cas- 
sandra. It contains the romantic elements of the disguised 
girl serving her lover as page incognito, and mistakenly 
wooed by some other woman. It has in addition such motives 
as the sentimental farewell, the girl's giving a jewel as a love 
token, her apology for wearing boy's clothing, and her ex- 
pression of weariness from travelling — dramatic effects 
that recur in Shakespeare's plays. In technic Sir Clyomon 
with its loose and rambling plot reminds us of a medieval 
romance. The author, whoever he was, had only partially 
realized the dramaturgic value of disguise. 

What we have just remarked may be illustrated by a 
summary of the play. Clyomon bids farewell to Princess 
Neronis, receiving her jewel as a love token, and departs 
to fight a combat. After he has gone Neronis is kidnapped, 
but escapes by disguising herself as a page. She gets employ- 
ment as a shepherd's boy, and the first complication comes 
when the country lasses fall in love with "him." One day 
while strolling along she finds a dead body, decorated with 
Clyomon's sword and shield. She concludes that her love 
is dead, and attempts suicide, but "Providence," who is 
apparently on the watch for this opportunity, puts out his 

7 Giraldi Cinthio, Heccatommilhi, VIII 5. 

8 The date and authorship of Sir Clyomon and Sir Clamydes cannot 
at present be determined. Suggestions as to date vary from 1570 to 
1584. See ScheUing, I, 199. 



64 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

hand and thwarts her fell purpose. Investigation proves 
that the body is that of the villainous kidnapper. Some 
time after this experience, Neronis-page accidentally gets 
service with her lover Clyomon, whom she presently recog- 
nizes. She remains incognito, and is sent ahead as his 
messenger to Denmark. At the Danish court she is finally 
revealed to him as his lady love and quondam page. 

The plot of such a play suffers when compared with the 
firmer weaving in Lyly's Gallathea (entered in 1585 10 ) . There 
the disguise, suggested by one of Ovid's Metamorphoses 11 
results in many mistaken wooings and cross purposes. The 
action is very compact, and the dialog is full of ironical 
subtlety. Gallathea and Phillida have been disguised as 
boys in order to escape Neptune's demand for the sacrifice 
of a virgin. Each falls in love with the other, whom she 
believes to be a boy. The two girl-pages next join Diana's 
train, where they are wooed by three nymphs. Each girl- 
page pretends in jest that the other is a girl and woos her. 

9 The attempted suicide of Neronis upon mistaking the dead body 
for that of her lover perhaps offered a suggestion for act IV, scene 2 in 
Cymbeline, a situation which editors usually attribute to Shakespeare's 
invention. See also Forsythe (M. L. N., April, 1912) who suggests that 
the Cloten situation may have been borrowed from the Alcario imper- 
sonation in I Ieronimo. 

10 Feuillerat, 576. 

11 Bk. IX. Iphis, a girl, had been presented to her father as a boy 
and thus reared by her mother. The father promises his supposed son 
in marriage to Ianthe. Iphis, in spite of herself, falls in love with 
Ianthe. In answer to the prayers of Iphis and the mother, Isis trans- 
forms Iphis to a boy. 

Lee, in discussing the sources of the Decameron (page 292), tells 
of two cases of pretended metamorphosis where lovers disguised as 
women pretend that some deity changes them into men. In the curi- 
ous play Philotus (see Chapter V, page 113) a lover disguised as a girl 
pretends that the heavenly powers change him into a man. Tristan 
de Nanteuil presents an interesting metamorphosis. See Chapter III, 
page 42. 



THE FEMALE PAGE 65 

Each of the two girls presently suspects the other's sex. 
Meanwhile, Cupid, the disguised intrigant, has been cap- 
tured by Diana, and Neptune promises to waive the sacrifice 
of a virgin if Cupid is released. Gallathea and Phillida are 
then revealed as girls, but, since they are by this time truly 
in love with each other, Venus promises to transform one 
into a boy — which one, she will not say until they reach 
the church door. 12 

A technical defect, to which we have alluded in Chapter 
II, is inherent in this intricate tangle of cross-purposes and 
mistaken wooing; the plot does not contain within itself the 
power of resolution. The knot cannot be untied. Revela- 
tion of disguise does not lessen the central difficulty, and 
the resolution can be brought about only by Venus, the 
dea ex machina, who guarantees the metamorphosis. 

Lyly, who was always fond of stylistic subtlety, put much 
comic irony into the dialog of Gallathea. Note, for example, 
Phillida's remarks to Gallathea (both being in page cos- 
tumes) : " It is a pretty boy, and a fair, he might well have 
been a woman" (II, 1); "It is pity you are not a woman" 
(III, 2), and, "I have sworn never to love a woman." 

Shakespeare later used similar involved dialog and seems 
to have been directly influenced by Lyly. In Gallathea 
(III, 2) occurs the passage: 

" Phil. Have you ever a sister? 

Galla. 1 pray have you ever a one? 

Phil. My father had but one daughter, and therefore I could have 
no sister." 

These lines are similar to Viola's reply to the Duke (II, 4), 
"I am all the daughters of my father's house, And all the 

12 An interesting inverted parallel to this situation is found in 
Fletcher's Loyal Subject. Olympia is very fond of the supposed girl 
"Alinda," and when "Alinda" proves to be a boy Olympia admits 
love for him and they go off to church. 



66 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

brothers too." In act IV, scene 4, Phillida says to Galla- 
thea, "Seeing we are both boys and both lovers, — that 
our affection may have some show, and seem as it were love, — 
let me call thee mistress." We are reminded of these lines in 
As You Like It (III, 2), when Rosalind-page tells Orlando of 
a fictitious youth who " was to imagine me his love, his mis- 
tress; and I set him every day to woo me." We shall pres- 
ently give a number of examples of Shakespeare's subtle 
dialog. He had learned it from Lyly, but the felicity of the 
pupil surpasses that of the master. 

Soliman and Perseda, mentioned in the Stationers' Register 
in 1592, but possibly written about 1588 (Boas, Kyd, lvii), 
has a female page situation which seems to be original. At 
least it is only remotely suggested in Wotton's Courtlie 
Controuersie, the probable source of the play. But the clos- 
ing incident may have had some influence on Beaumont and 
Fletcher's Maid's Tragedy, and will be discussed in that 
connection. 13 Perseda's male apparel only brings her to 
death; but in another play of Oriental color, the Wars of 
Cyrus, the heroine cleverly utilizes a page's costume in order 
to escape her royal captor. This play was printed in 1594 
and had probably been acted by the Children of Her Majesty's 
Chapel by 1590. 14 

Lcelia, a Latin adaption of GV Ingannati, was performed at 
Cambridge in 1590, and revived in 1598. The problem of 
this play's relations to Shakespeare's Twelfth Night has not 
received a solution. Churchill says (Jahrb., xxxiv, 286) that 
no evidence forces the conclusion that Shakespeare knew 
Ladia. Schelling, on the contrary, says (II, 77) that Lodia 
was the "undoubted immediate source of Shakespeare's 
Twelfth Night." But it is interesting to note that this play, 
whether Shakespeare ever borrowed from it or not, had the 
most complicated female page plot in England before 1590. 
13 See below, page 92. 14 Keller, Wars of Cyrus, 9. 



THE FEMALE PAGE 67 

Greene's James IV, printed in 1598, but written perhaps 
as early as 1590, 15 contains a number of similarities to other 
female page situations both earlier and later. The essential 
disguise elements in the story are the queen's fleeing "dis- 
guised like a squire," her adventures which bring her to the 
care of Lady Anderson, the latter's mistaken wooing of the 
"squire," and the "squire's" fainting when hearing bad 
news about the king. 

Greene did not fully realize the dramatic and theatrical 
opportunities of his situation. By omitting the female 
squire motive from the denouement he departed from his 
source, a novel by Cinthio 16 in which the heroine comes to 
her husband's camp and is called the Unknown Knight. 
In the novel the heroine is brought before her husband still 
disguised, and some dialog takes place before the revelation. 
Greene omitted this part of the action, thus losing a chance 
for a theatrical undisguising, and an opportunity for the 
piquant and equivocal language which was used so success- 
fully by Lyly and Shakespeare. 

These early plays, Byrsa Basilica, Promos and Cassandra, 
Sir Clyomon and Sir Clamydes, Gallathea, Soliman and 
Perseda, the Wars of Cyrus, Lcelia, and James IV, are evi- 
dences that English theater audiences were familiar with 
the female page by 1590. Playgoers had seen the heroine 
apprehensive lest her male garb seem immodest; weary from 
travel through forests; patiently following her lover to serve 
him unknown, or leaving him to carry his messages to a 
rival lady; wooed by that lady who was misled by outward 
appearance; wittily alluding to her real identity in veiled 

15 According to Fleay (Biog. Chron., I, 265) although Collins (II, 79) 
is not convinced. 

16 Heccatommithi, III, 1 . In Arrenopia, a play which Cinthio based 
on his own novel, the heroine appears on the battlefield dressed as a 
knight, calling herself "Agnoristo." See Klein, V, 348. 



68 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

language; swooning like a woman, or fighting in man's har- 
ness, and dying like a soldier. The same playgoers may have 
heard similar events recited in the ballads, or may have read 
of them in English novels. 

Yet these plays, novels, and ballads were by no means 
the only contemporary plots containing female pages. Plays 
especially were perishable. The number of non-extant plays 
before 1592 is much greater than the number of extant. 
They must have done their part in popularizing disguise. 
We may surmise that the lost play Felix and Philomena (Phil- 
ismena?), 1584, contained the female page story from Monte- 
mayor's Diana, and that it may have been the immediate 
source of Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen. The extant plays 
described above are less important for their individual con- 
tribution than for the proof they give that the female page 
was by 1592 a well-established personage on the stage, and 
already endowed with distinct characteristics and functions 
in the drama. 

ii 

Although the traditional disguises in the Two Gentlemen, 
the Merchant, As You Like It, Twelfth Night, and Cymbeline 
are all borrowed, they are all bettered. Either by new com- 
binations of old materials, by stricter dramatic economy, by 
focusing the attention on the female page as a character, 
by the heightening of theatrical values, or by infusing po- 
etic subtlety into the dialog, Shakespeare made his female 
page plays superior to those of his predecessors or rival 
contemporaries. 

Shakespeare's skill in building a play around a disguised 
heroine is clearly exhibited in the Two Gentlemen of Verona, 
produced perhaps as early as 1591. Montemayor's novel La 
Diana seems to be either directly or indirectly the source of 
the Proteus-Julia-page story. But in Montemayor the love 



THE FEMALE PAGE 69 

episode ends by Felismena's telling Don Felix that she had 
served him as page two years before. That method is un- 
dramatic. The undisguising should take place before the 
audience and should be an organic element in the denoue- 
ment; Shakespeare made it so in the Two Gentlemen. There 
the revelation of disguise is precipitated by a swoon, and 
identity is verified by the rings, the swoon and the rings 
both having been suggested by earlier plays. Thus three 
different dramatic motives are combined in one dramatic 
moment. 

Such combination of material is dramatic economy. 
Economy is further shown in the construction of the 
serenade scene (IV, 2). In Montemayor the Host wakes 
Felismena to hear a serenade. She listens and recognizes 
the voice of Don Felix in praise of a rival mistress; but, 
although watching until dawn, Felismena is unable to dis- 
tinguish her false lover in the group. Montemayor shows 
us only the Host and Felismena, while Shakespeare's stag- 
ing presents the Host, Julia, Proteus, Silvia, and others si- 
multaneously. Thus the scene is made compact and effects 
multiplied by introducing in disguise the person most vitally 
concerned in the action, an action which could not proceed 
if that person's identity were known. Even when the sub- 
ject of discussion is Julia herself, she participates with 
subtle speech. 

A good theatrical effect in the Two Gentlemen is the swoon- 
ing of the disguised heroine. Shakespeare may have bor- 
rowed this from Greene's James IV, where Dorothea, upon 
being informed that the king is "dreading death" because of 
the reported death of the queen, feels a sudden qualm at 
the heart and is revived with "licor" (V, 1). The business 
of swooning has more dramatic occasion and theatrical 
effectiveness in the Two Gentlemen. In the last scene 
Proteus threatens to assault the resisting Silvia. Valentine 



70 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

arrives just in time to rescue her, and Proteus becomes 
surprisingly penitent, whereupon Valentine immediately 
forgives him, and, to show that there is no ill will, offers 
to surrender his sweetheart into the bargain. Julia-page 
promptly swoons and her identity is revealed within a few 
moments. 

The action in that scene is further enriched by the use 
of the rings. This motive, borrowed perhaps from Sir 
Clyomon and Sir Clamydes, 17 is an accompaniment of dis- 
guise in Two Gentlemen, the Merchant, and Twelfth Night. 
All possible dramatic use of the rings is made in the Two 
Gentlemen. When Proteus and Julia have their farewell 
scene they exchange rings. At court Proteus sends Julia's 
ring to his new love, the love messenger being the disguised 
Julia herself. Then Silvia refuses the token, which leaves 
Julia in possession of two rings — the one she received from 
Proteus at Verona, and the one she gave him in exchange. 
The last use of the rings effects the denouement. In the 
excitement of hearing Valentine offer Silvia to Proteus, 
Julia swoons. She retains enough presence of mind, however, 
to present the wrong ring and begs forgiveness for not having 
delivered it to Silvia. 

Shakespeare's method in this play varies significantly from 
the method of the Italian dramatists. We have seen how 
they produced great complexity of plot by a process of 
combination. But they intensified their action without 
concentrating the attention on any single character. Shake- 
speare differed from them by focusing the attention on a 

17 In Sir Clyomon the hero receives a jewel from Neronis when he 
bids her farewell; but no dramatic use is made of it. In Soliman and 
Perseda, Erastus gives his lady a ring, and receives a carcanet in re- 
turn. The familiar ring story in the Merchant of Venice may have 
been borrowed from Fiorentino's novel. Did Shakespeare know that 
story early enough to get a hint for the ring motive in the Two 
Gentlemen? 



THE FEMALE PAGE 71 

single character, making that the axis of the plot. 18 In the 
Two Gentlemen the disguise of Julia is not, for example, 
counterbalanced by the disguise of Proteus as a woman — 
that would have been the Italian way — but is enhanced 
by combination with subordinate motives, such as the rings, 
and is dwelt upon until full dramatic emphasis results. 

Shakespeare's development of the female page motive 
gives this type of disguise greater individual importance in 
England than it had in Italy. In Twelfth Night Viola has 
more dramatic individuality than the corresponding heroine in 
GV Ingannati, whose twin brother is almost equally involved 
in the action. In As You Like It there is slight intrigue 
but much comic emphasis on the ironical situation of Rosa- 
lind. In the Merchant and in Cymbeline simple disguise 
incidents possess very great dramatic, theatrical, and 
stylistic value. And in each case the disguise complication 
stimulates our admiration for, or sympathy with, the dis- 
guised person; thus the playwright directs our attention 
to the character and makes the disguise situation something 
more than a mechanical device. 

In the Merchant of Venice disguise and the ring motive are 
used in combination with the casket story and the pound 
of flesh story. Whether these four elements had existed 
together in the non-extant play the Jew, which Stephen 
Gosson alludes to, we cannot say. From the slender evi- 
dence in Gosson we may assume that only the last two ele- 
ments were combined in the Jew. Fiorentino combines the 
wife-lawyer disguise with the pound of flesh story in a 
novel which Shakespeare's play, except the Gratiano-Nerissa 
part, parallels at every step. 

The female page, though only a subordinate motive in 
the Merchant, has considerable dramatic value. It resolves 

18 To a certain extent Greene has the same method in the delinea- 
tion of Dorothea in James IV. 



72 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

one part of the action, and simultaneously initiates a new 
set of complications, which are in turn resolved by the 
revelation of identity. These last complications consti- 
tute a felicitous postlude to a tragic action timely averted. 

As You Like It is practically all drawn from Lodge's 
Rosalynde. Shakespeare has altered the story by focusing 
our attention on Rosalind. He has endowed her with a 
charming femininity which is only emphasized by disguise. 
The plot, which we need not recall, frequently reveals this 
femininity. Rosalind swoons, like other disguised heroines 
before her, but, after a brief dramatic suspense, takes heart 
and tries to be a man, insisting that her swooning was only 
counterfeit. Later, when her identity is known, she miti- 
gates the apparent immodesty of appearing in man's ap- 
parel by declaring that she has no doublet and hose in her 
disposition. Similar apologies had appeared earlier in Sir 
Clyomon and in Gallathea. In the Two Gentlemen Julia fears 
that the world might make her "scandalized " for undertaking 
so "unstaid" a journey. And at the end of the play she 
speaks the pertinent words: ''It is the lesser blot, modesty 
finds, Women to change their shapes, than men their minds." 
Rosalind further reveals her true character by her expression 
of weariness after travelling through the forest. She says 
she could cry like a woman were it no disgrace to her male 
apparel. Such speeches had been made before by Neronis 
in Sir Clyomon and by Dorothea in James IV. 

Shakespeare further concentrated our attention on the 
disguised heroine by emphasizing the comic irony in Rosa- 
lind's situation, especially in the mock marriage of Orlando 
with Rosalind-" Ganymede "-pretending-to-be-Rosalind and 
in the mistaken wooing by Phebe — both situations borrowed 
from the novel. 19 This comic emphasis is more clearly felt 

19 The disguises in As You Like It are echoed in Shirley's Love 
Tricks. Margaret in Lamb's John Woodvil is reminiscent of Rosalind. 



THE FEMALE PAGE 73 

in the dialog which Shakespeare gave to Rosalind. Thus 
the bold relief of the female page is heightened positively 
by the dramatic means already noted, and negatively by 
subordinating the other characters, even Orlando, to Rosalind. 

In As You Like It, as in nearly all the English female- 
page plays, the heroine is a more pastoral figure than the 
typical disguised heroine in Italian drama. Her travels 
take her through forests, and in these forests part of the 
action is represented as taking place. It is so in Sir Clyo- 
mon, Gallathea, James IV, Two Gentlemen, Twelfth Night, 
Cymbeline, Philaster, and in a long succession of similar plays. 
This pastoral element, due to various influences upon English 
writers, helps to give a distinct personality to the female 
page in their plays. The Italian drama of intrigue, where 
the heroine in the costume of a boy appears more frequently 
than in the pastoral drama, 20 presented the action tradi- 
tionally on the street outside two or three neighboring houses. 
This staging necessarily prevented the romantic atmosphere 
of the woods characteristic in English comedy. 

Shakespeare's method of individualizing the character 
without losing any of the structural functions of the female 
page is clearly illustrated in Twelfth Night. We have al- 
ready shown that GV Ingannati, the ultimate source of 
Shakespeare's plot, is a more complicated play than Twelfth 
Night. 21 Perhaps Shakespeare borrowed directly from Rich's 

The mock wooing is paralleled in Calderon's Espanola de Florencia. 
See Chapter III, page 54. 

20 The disguise in Pastor Fido is slight. In Aminta there is no 
disguise. 

21 See Chapter III, page 46. For early analogues see Anders, 
67-71; also Luce, Introd. to Apolonius and Silla. 

Reminiscences of the disguise situation in Twelfth Night may be 
found in Ford's Lover's Melancholy, Shirley's Grateful Servant, Mas- 
singer's Bashful Lover, and in Wycherly's Plain Dealer. Aaron Hill 
in Henry V (II) introduces a female page like Viola who tells a tale of 
her "sister." 



74 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

novel, Apolonius and Silla. No matter what his source, 
Shakespeare suppressed or simplified those complications 
which involved the twin brother, thus gaining opportunity 
for greater emphasis on the disguised heroine. Yet, while 
subordinating the twin brother, Shakespeare did not fail to 
utilize him with the fullest theatrical value when necessary. 
He improved the traditional plot considerably by adding 
the forced revelation resulting from the simultaneous enter- 
ing of the doubles. 22 Shakespeare had used this method of 
revealing identity earlier in the Comedy of Errors and in the 
Taming of The Shrew. 

Structurally disguise is basic in Twelfth Night. It pro- 
duces the many complications in the main plot, and the 
entire entanglement is happily resolved by the undisguising. 
There is a gradual involution and deepening irony of the 
action up to the end. The duke employs a love messenger 
who unwillingly and unconsciously perverts the import of 
the messages. Olivia makes a serious mistake in sex for 
which no one could blame her. Sebastian finds a set of 
complications all ready for him when he arrives on the 
scene. Viola, in the heat of the struggle of outward cir- 
cumstance, has an inner conflict of her own. It begins in 
act I, scene 4, when the duke asks her to woo Olivia for him. 
Viola replies: 

"I'll do my best 
To woo your lady: (.A side) yet, a barful strife! 
Whoe'er I woo, myself would be his wife." 

The structural firmness of the play resides in the fact that 
none of these complications would have come about except 
for Viola's disguise; that the revelation of her identity would 
have removed them at any time, and that the final revelation 
is a complete and satisfactory denouement of the whole play. 
22 See Chapter II, pages 10-11. 



THE FEMALE PAGE 75 

These four plays show that Shakespeare recognized the 
female page as a valuable element in romantic comedy, and 
that, while skilfully utilizing borrowed disguise effects to 
the fullest dramatic value, he managed to concentrate atten- 
tion on the individual person in disguise. It remains to 
illustrate how Shakespeare obtained valuable dramatic 
effects in the dialog of the disguised person. In Chapter II 
we alluded to the subtlety of disguise dialog and its relation 
to acting. Let us be more specific here. When we examine 
the irony or veiled meanings in the lines quoted below, we 
remember that their dramatic value can be fully appreciated 
only when they are spoken on the stage. When Viola tells 
the Duke that she will never love any woman, that, in fact, 
she will never love anybody but her master, the reader gets 
a double meaning from her speech, but the spectator gets 
a dramatic effect in the pantomime which the reader misses. 
If the scene is so staged that the Duke is not facing Viola 
when she speaks the words, she may indulge in a bit of 
acting which emphasizes the humor in these hidden mean- 
ings. This side play is often directed to the audience, but 
it may produce the same effect by being directed to a third 
person on the stage. The first method, though not high 
art, has frequently been employed on the English stage. 

This type of subtle dialog is employed abundantly in Lyly 
and Shakespeare. We shall quote a few typical examples 
from Shakespeare. In the serenade scene of the Two Gentle- 
men (IV, 2) Julia-page makes several equivoques on the 
music of Proteus who "plays false." But most noteworthy 
is the elaborate veiled allusion in act IV, scene 4, where 
Julia-page tells Silvia that she knows Julia almost as well 
as herself. She veils her own situation in every word of 
her little fabrication about the pageant where "trimm'd in 
Madam Julia's gown" she 



76 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

"... did play a lamentable part. 
Madam, 'twas Ariadne, passioning 
For Theseus' perjury and unjust flight; 
Which I so lively acted with my tears 
That my poor Mistress, moved therewithal, 
Wept bitterly." 

To make the allusion complete Silvia replies: "I weep 
myself to think upon thy words." Montemayor's novel 
contains something like this, and may have suggested to 
Shakespeare the theme which he introduced here in Lylyan 
fashion, and improved in Viola's tale of a sister. 

In the Merchant of Venice there is comic irony in Bas- 
sanio's declaration to Antonio: "Antonio, I am married to 
a wife ... I would lose all, ay, sacrifice them all, here to 
this devil, to deliver you." To this Portia replies: "Your 
wife would give you little thanks for that, If she were by to 
hear you make the offer." 

Portia's and Nerissa's clever twittings of their husbands 
in the last scene of the play are so well known that quota- 
tion is unnecessary. The general idea might have been 
suggested by Fiorentino's novel. His sentence "And I can 
swear, says the lady, with as much solemnity, that you 
gave the ring to a woman," may have suggested Shakes- 
peare's line, "I'll die for't but some woman had the ring." 
But all the rest, a hundred lines, is of Shakespeare's own com- 
position and in his characteristic vein. 

Rosalind upon reviving from her swoon insists that it was 
counterfeit. Oliver says: "Well then, take a good heart 
and counterfeit to be a man." Rosalind replies: "So I do; 
but, i'faith, I should have been a woman by right." 

In Twelfth Night veiled meanings are numerous. The 
duke speaks an unconscious equivoque in act I, scene 4, 
when he tells Viola: "Dear lad . . . they shall yet belie 
thy happy years That say thou art a man." And he is nearer 



THE FEMALE PAGE 77 

the truth than he knows when telling the page in detail how 
''all is semblative a woman's part." In act II, scene 4, the 
duke says to Viola: "thine eye Hath stay'd upon some favor 
that it loves; Hath it not, boy?" Viola replies that she 
loves someone of "your complexion" and "about your 
years, my lord." Later in the same scene Viola veils her 
wooing in the poetic fiction beginning: "My Father had 
a daughter lov'd a man, As it might be, perhaps, were I a 
woman, I should your lordship." 23 When this charming 
history of the "sister" who never told her love is finished, 
the unseeing duke comments: "But died thy sister of her 
love, my boy?" and Viola answers enigmatically: "I am 
all the daughters of my father's house, And all the brothers 
too." 24 In act III, scene 1, Olivia woos the page so per- 
sistently that "he" finally declares that "he" has one 
heart "And that no woman has; nor never none Shall 
mistress be of it, save I alone." 

In Cymbeline we see that Shakespeare to the last felt 
the theatrical and poetic value of subtle dialog. When 
Imogen sees the hospitality of Guiderius and Arviragus 
(her brothers, though she does not know it) she says 
aside: "Would it had been so, that they Had been my 
father's sons" (III, 6). A little earlier Guiderius had ob- 
served to the fair page: "Were you a woman, youth, I 
should woo hard." In the last scene of the play when 
Cymbeline is introduced to Imogen-page he says: "I have 
surely seen him; His favour is familiar to me. Boy, Thou 
hast look'd thyself into my grace, And art mine own." 
But he does not really recognize his daughter, even though 

23 An inverted parallel occurs in Glapthorne's Hollander (1635), 
where Popingay, disguised as a woman, woos Dalinea in a veiled allu- 
sion beginning, "I had a younger brother." See also above, page 76. 

24 A parallel to this answer has already been noted in Gallathea. 
See above, page 65. 



78 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

they converse apart for a few moments. This comment 
on the page's features shortly before the revelation of iden- 
tity is very much like the duke's comment in As You Like It 
just before Rosalind reveals herself: "I do remember in 
this shepherd boy, Some lively touches of my daughter's 
favour," a line which had been suggested by Lodge's novel. 
A great many more such speeches of irony or double mean- 
ings might be quoted, but we have perhaps sufficiently illus- 
trated Shakespeare's method of enriching the dialog in a 
disguise situation. 

While Shakespeare was producing Twelfth Night and 
earlier disguise plays, other dramatists used the female page 
motive incidentally in a few plays which we shall glance at 
for purposes of comparison. In Marston's Antonio and 
Mellida (1599) the heroine disguised as a page escapes her 
father's wrath and goes to join Antonio in the forest. She 
reveals herself to her lover almost immediately and is pres- 
ently captured by her father. This disguise has little 
value except for a bit of dialog, when Mellida-page, bent on 
escape, dances before her father. The father says: 
"Sprightly, i'faith. In troth he's somewhat like My 
daughter Mellida." Heywood perhaps meant to burlesque 
female page disguises in his Four Prentices of London (1594). 
The heroine disguises as page and serves her lover inti- 
mately but incognito, the situation amounting to a reductio 
ad absurdum because of the alleged fact that the page was 
her lover's bedfellow for a year without his discovering her 
identity or sex. 26 An incidental disguise somewhat like that 

25 Compare Carliell's Deserving Favorite (1629), where a female page 
and her lover, a disguised duke, spend the night in a hermit's lodge 
without recognizing each other. The "page" keeps her doublet on 
in order to avoid revealing her sex. In Fiorentino's Pecorone, III, 1, 
a lady disguised as a friar shares a bed with a priest for some time 
without revealing her sex. 



THE FEMALE PAGE 79 

of Shakespeare's Jessica occurs in William Haughton's 
Englishman for My Money (1598). A Portuguese usurer 
living in London has three daughters whom he desires to 
marry off to rich foreigners. The girls prefer Englishmen, 
and Laurentia, dressed in the garments of their tutor, es- 
capes from her father's home and marries her lover. 

Incidental uses of disguise such as we have just named 
serve to emphasize the fact that during the last decade of 
the century Shakespeare alone was able to construct suc- 
cessful comedies upon the disguise of the heroine. 

Shakespeare's technic might be called traditional technic 
raised to the highest power of efficiency. The weaving of 
his disguise plot was simple and direct ; from that he never 
varied. A disguise was assumed, deception produced, and 
final revelation made in a traditional way which amounted 
almost to a formula. Other dramatists at the beginning 
of the seventeenth century began to play variations on the 
disguise theme. Heywood in the Wise Woman of Hogsdon 
disguised his heroine as page and then let some deceived 
person retro-disguise her as a lady, thus getting a double 
complication. Jonson in Epiccene, and Beaumont and 
Fletcher in Philaster, introduced persons so well disguised 
that even the audience was deceived until the end of the 
play. Yet, although some fourteen female page plays with 
various novelties intervened between Twelfth Night and 
Cymbeline (1610), the latter play represents no new method 
of presenting disguise. Shakespeare's last use of the female 
page was in his seasoned and successful, but nevertheless 
conventional manner. 

Far from deceiving the audience Shakespeare in Cymbeline 
(III, 4) discusses Imogen's disguise at length, "doublet, hat, 
hose, all That answer to them," and, with his accustomed 
alertness to histrionic considerations, he instructs Imogen 
to practice her part "with what imitation you can borrow 



80 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

From youth of such a season." The traditional apologies 
for male apparel appear in Imogen's remark, "Though peril 
to my modesty, not death on't, I would adventure." The 
familiar speech about weariness is found in scene 6 of act 
III, where Imogen, who has slept on the ground for two 
nights and is half starved, decides that "a man's life is a 
tedious one." All this keeps the audience constantly aware 
of the fact that the page is Imogen in disguise. 26 And they 
can sympathize thoroughly with the heroine in her adven- 
tures which end in a bit of tragi-comic irony when Posthu- 
mous strikes the "scornful page" to the ground only to learn 
the next moment that the "page" is his wife long supposed 
dead. 

in 

While certain playwrights, including Shakespeare, were 
using hackneyed forms of disguise action others were exert- 
ing themselves to get novelty and variety. Some of these 
interesting experiments in technic are bound up with the 
history of the female page disguise. Retro-disguise and 
complete surprise in disguise plots have been defined and 
discussed somewhat abstractly in Chapter II (pages 11-14). 
We shall here analyze a few plots, which are dominated by 
these motives separately or in combination. Let us repeat 
that if some person in a play believes that a female page 
really is a boy and then disguises that page as a girl, we 
have a retro-disguise and the possibility of a new set of com- 
plications. Such complications impose a special kind of 
action at the end of the play, which produces a double 
denouement. First, a certain group of characters has to dis- 
cover that the female-page-girl is a page disguised as a girl, 
and, second, all the characters have to discover that the page 

26 See Schulz, 42-44, for a comparison between Imogen's disguise 
and that of Genevra in Bocc. Decam., II, 9. 



THE FEMALE PAGE 81 

who had been disguised is really a girl, although some of 
the principals in the action had been unaware of this fact. 

Just how early or frequently retro-disguise occurs outside 
of England I cannot say. I have found it, for example, in 
the Sanskrit drama. 27 Italian drama sometimes presents 
this situation and was doubtless the teacher of the English. 
The motive appears, for example, in Parabosco's II Viluppo 
(II, 2) , where Viluppo reminds Valerio of the day when he 
disguised his supposed page as a lady. 28 Another Italian 
play, La Cintia, 29 by G. B. della Porta, was adapted into a 
Latin comedy called Labyrinthus, which was printed in 1636. 
It had been acted at Cambridge as early as 1599 (Churchill 
and Keller, 309). 

The plot of this play is very labyrinthine but we shall tell 
enough to illustrate our discussion. Lucretia tells her serv- 
ant that she has been reared as a boy, that she loves 
Horatius, and is serving him in male disguise as a pretended 
love messenger. She further reports that, on the pretense 
of bringing about an assignation between him and a certain 
"Lepida," she has really filled "Lepida's" place herself. 
Meanwhile another woman is mistakenly wooing Lucretia- 
page. Horatius becomes suspicious about his page, and 
next insists on seeing "Lepida" himself. Lucretia-page 
now dresses herself as "Lepida" and again deceives Hora- 
tius in the amour. A bit of information soon complicates 
the plot, for the supposed lady "Lepida" is really a boy. 
And those that know this, jeer Horatius whenever he boasts 
of having enjoyed "Lepida." But when Horatius learns 
of the deception practiced on him he declares he is in love 
with the unknown lady who favored him, whoever she may 

27 See my article in M. L. N., xxvii, 92. 

28 See Klein, IV, 790. 

29 La Cintia is itself indebted to Piccolomini's Ortensio. See Klein, 
V, 650. 



82 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

be. Eventually Lucretia-page reveals herself and admits 
that she is the one who spent the nights with Horatius. 

The retro-disguise situation in Labyrinthus is not very 
skilfully constructed. However, it shows the girl masquer- 
ading as page and then dressing as girl again before reveal- 
ing her sex. An incidental use of this motive is exemplified 
in Heywood's Four Prentices of London, acted about 1594. 
In Heywood's play the French lady disguises as page and 
serves her lover intimately for a year without being recog- 
nized. Meanwhile the lover falls in love with Bella Franca 
(his own sister, though he does not recognize her). Presently 
the French Lady-page, who is jealous of the rival, disguises 
herself as a girl and becomes the servant of Bella Franca. 
But the next time the lover sees his lady he recognizes her. 
Dramaturgically Heywood made no profit out of the second 
disguise of the female page. The action was simplified 
rather than amplified. 

Perhaps 1599 was too early a date to expect successful 
variation of the traditional devices. Heywood essayed 
retro-disguise again in the Wise Woman of Hogsdon (1604). 
This time he produced a plot of considerable ingenuity. 
He used the retro-disguise motive to lead up to a marriage 
supposedly farcical, but eventually real. 30 The plot is 
briefly as follows: Second Luce, disguised as a page, and 
pursuing her lover Chartley, overhears him planning a secret 
marriage with Luce at the Wise Woman's. Thereupon she 
becomes page to the Wise Woman, who, never suspecting 
the sex of her page, plans a trick on Chartley. By a ruse 
Second Luce-page, retro-disguised as a girl, is substituted 
for Luce in a marriage to Chartley. The bridegroom, who 
has thus really married Second Luce, but thinks he has 

30 Farcical marriages to a boy bride are discussed in the next chap- 
ter, where it is shown that the situation is borrowed from Plautus 
directly or through Italian literature. 



THE FEMALE PAGE 83 

married Luce, plans coolly to marry Gratiana. Now comes 
a highly involved screen scene, in which these three girls — 
the real wife, the supposed wife, and the intended wife — ap- 
pear together with Chartley and several other characters. In 
this scene the Wise Woman reveals her substitution trick 
and jeers Chartley at having married a boy bride. But the 
Wise Woman is herself deceived, for the supposed boy bride, 
Second Luce, "scatters her hair" and proves that she is 
Chartley's first love and a real bride. 

This play illustrates a successful use of retro-disguise. 
The jeering at Chartley because they think he has married 
a boy bride constitutes a sort of false denouement. But 
the counter-revelation is a surprise even to the wise old 
intrigante. 31 

But Heywood's play by no means exhausts the possi- 
bilities of involving a female page situation. We might 
analyze these possibilities in four steps. First, a girl dis- 
guises as a boy. Second, some one, believing that this really 
is a boy, disguises "him" as a girl. Third, the supposed 
boy temporarily disguised as a girl is married off to some 
young man. The witnesses jeer at the supposed boy bride, 
who suddenly turns the laugh by revealing herself as a real 
girl and a real bride. Fourth, the three steps are reproduced 
as stated, but even the audience is deceived, for they have 
not been taken into confidence. Such a surprise denouement 
of a retro-disguise situation is presented in the Widow. 
But we shall defer the examination of that intricate play 
until after we have described the surprise motive as another 

31 An interesting retro-disguise situation may be seen in Shirley's 
Doubtful Heir (IV, 2). An example of retro-disguise resulting in a 
supposed mock marriage is fundamental in Hausted's Rival Friends. 
See also Glapthorne's Hollander, where a chambermaid disguised as a 
man is married to a gallant disguised as a woman. Thus a supposed 
mock marriage turns out to be a real marriage. 



84 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

innovation, or perhaps an invention, in the early years of 
James's reign. 

The decade 1600-10 was of great significance in the devel- 
opment of structure in disguise plays. We have already 
noticed the perfect use of the accepted romantic material 
in Twelfth Night, and the variation of disguise intrigue in 
the Wise Woman. But somewhere near the end of this 
decade came a new method which made a significant contri- 
bution to dramatic technic. The new motive, which, so 
far as I know, had never before been employed in any drama, 
is the unforeseen resolution of a plot by the revelation of a 
disguise which was unknown to the audience. 32 According 
to the old method playwrights had kept the audience very 
closely in touch with the disguise action. The characters 
had informed us that they were going to disguise themselves, 
had discussed their dual role in soliloquies, had sometimes 
told us how they were going to act, and what they were 
going to wear, and while in disguise had made many refer- 
ences to their real identity in equivoques and veiled allu- 
sions. But by the new method the audience was completely 
deceived during the play and surprised at the end. This 
necessitated a complete absence of veiled allusion, and an 
entirely new motiving of the action; for the audience must 
not even suspect that there might be disguise. 

Who is to be accredited with this invention? Jonson in 
Epicoenef Or Beaumont and Fletcher in Philasterf Epicame 
was acted in 1609 (Thorndike, Infl., 16, 67; Cf. Henry, 
Epiccene, xxii). Philaster was certainly written before Oct. 
8, 1610, and it may have been written as early as 1608 
(Thorndike, Infl., 64, 65). The Widow, another play con- 
taining the surprise motive, has also been assigned to a date 
of 1608-9 by Bullen (Middleton, I, lxxxvi). There is evi- 

32 Compare the two surprise motives of classic drama, the deus ex 
machina and the discovery of family relationship. 



THE FEMALE PAGE 85 

dence that Jonson wrote the disguise plot in this play. 33 
Hence even if Epicoene did not precede Philaster, Jonson may 
still have been the originator of the surprise motive. 

Epicoene is full of comic action which victimizes Morose. 
He hates noise but gets more than he can bear and resorts 
to a humiliating means of escape. 34 The plot has a well- 
motivated beginning, middle, and end. That there was dis- 
guise in the play no one could suspect. There has been 
no hint of it in the dialog 35 and the most searching critic of 
plot motivation could find no need of it. It comes as a 
complete surprise. The denouement is complete, and when 
referred back to the events of the play makes them all seem 
more ridiculous. 

Philaster has a similar dramatic surprise. Here an in- 
tense tragic action is built up on a false charge against the 
heroine and a page. The audience knows that the page is not 
guilty, but are in suspense as to whether the hero can be 
convinced of the innocence of the lady and the page. After 
a long series of tragic actions it is suddenly proved that the 
accusation could not possibly be true, for the page is found 
to be a girl in disguise. 36 

This play of Beaumont and Fletcher is so crowded with 
incidents that any satisfactory synopsis would be too lengthy 
here. But if we read 37 the play carefully we observe that 

33 See below, page 88. 

34 See an analysis of Epicoene in Chapter V. 

36 I do not think that the etymology of the word " epicoene," mean- 
ing common gender, was sufficiently clear to the audience to let out 
the secret of the play. See Chapter II, page 13, for evidence that the 
intriguing companions were themselves deceived. 

36 See the surprise female page disguise in Middleton's Anything 
for a Quiet Life (1619) for some resemblance to Philaster. 

37 It is sometimes difficult for a reader to appreciate a surprise dis- 
guise, because the list of dramatis personce gives the secret away; some- 
times the real name of the character is attached to the dialog, or is 



86 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

the audience cannot know that Bellario is a disguised girl. 38 
The suspense of the spectator is not a speculation whether 
Bellario is a girl or a boy, but whether Philaster can be 
convinced of Arethusa's innocence or not. And as to the 
latter question the suspense is perfectly motivated regard- 
less of disguise. When the disguise is revealed, it is a 
complete surprise, but it is also a complete denouement. 39 
Disguise in a play of this type is an organic but hidden 
motive which performs the important function of resolving 
the plot. 

This new method of plot construction has its advantages. 
It was a novelty to the blase theatergoer, to whom the ex- 
pository type of play had told in advance most of the events 
to be enacted. But it had also its disadvantages, as we have 
already pointed out in Chapter II (page 13). It was too 
obviously a coup de theatre. It victimized the audience as 
well as the people in the play, and it did not permit appre- 
ciation of ironical situations or dramatic misunderstandings. 
For example, in Philaster one could not realize at the first 
performance the irony in Dion's false accusation of a page 
who was really his own daughter and because of sex could 
not be guilty of the charge made. Again in the forest it 

followed by the stage direction "disguised as a page." See below, 
page 89. 

38 In act I, scene 1, Dion alludes to his daughter who had undertaken 
a tedious pilgrimage. In the next scene Philaster describes Bellario in 
the speech, "I have a boy," etc. But there is no hint that Dion's 
daughter is identical with this boy. Dion himself is completely 
deceived. 

39 Many students of Philaster will not agree with me that the sur- 
prise was complete. They may support their case by Dion's speech, 
which I have discussed, by Bellario's suspicious affection for Phi- 
laster, and by the prima facie possibility that on the Elizabethan stage 
any page might turn out to be a girl. However, even if these things 
are to be looked upon as clues, we observe that the action continually 
puts the audience on other trails. 



THE FEMALE PAGE 87 

is Dion who is most vociferous in laying a new crime on 
the page (his daughter). In fact neither the fundamental 
cause of the tragic action nor the pathetic situation of the 
love-lorn and unrewarded maiden at every turn of the play 
could be more than half appreciated by one who did not 
know of the disguise. 

This new technic had many devotees, 40 while the old 
method of carefully forewarning the audience held its own. 
A compromise, good dramaturgy I should think, is to drop 
a few hints in the course of the dialog, so that the more alert 
of the spectators, if not all of them, may suspect disguise, 
and anticipate the dramatic effect of a discovery. Such is 
Chapman's method in May Day, printed in 1611, but doubt- 
less acted several years earlier. 41 In that comedy the 
denouement is a surprise to many spectators. Others, how- 
ever, have been led to suspect the existence of disguise by 
hints made in the dialog. The source of May Day is Ales- 
sandro Piccolomini's comedy Alessandro. In that play the 
female page has an expository soliloquy in which the dis- 
guise and the reason for it are explained to the audience. 
Chapman, in reworking the Italian play, omitted the ex- 
pository passage and chose not to forewarn the audience 
definitely, but merely to let them suspect that a certain page 
was a girl in disguise. 

In act III, scene 5, Quintiliano, commenting on Leonoro's 
page Lionel, says: "Afore heaven 'tis a sweet-faced child, 
methinks he should show well in woman's attire." The 
hint is broader in act IV, scene 6. Here Leonoro plans to 
disguise his page as a woman in order to gull an innocent 
youth. The master says: "Come, Lionel, let me see how 
naturally thou canst play the woman," and when he has 

40 See Chapter V, pages 117-18. 

41 Prof. Parrot has concluded (II, 731) that May Day was produced 
in 1601 or 1602. 



88 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

gone out Lionel speaks the words: " Better than you think 
for." The intended gulling does not advance far in the May 
day masque at the end of the play, for the female page-girl 
is recognized by her lover. We find this type of suspected 
disguise frequently in later plays. For example, in Ford's 
Lover's Melancholy (1628), where the disguise situation is 
slightly reminiscent of Twelfth Night, the audience is given 
strong hints in act II, scene 1, that the page Parthenophill 
is really Eroclea in disguise. Thus also the audience is 
partly taken into confidence in Shirley's Love in a Maze 
(1632) and in his Grateful Servant (1639). 

We have already remarked that when surprise and the 
retro-disguise are combined they constitute the acme of 
plot involution. There must have been a great desire some- 
time during the years 1608-11, perhaps during a single theat- 
rical season, to get as much novelty as possible in disguise 
situations. The most intricate plot of all is found in the 
Widow, a play attributed by the printer to Middleton, 
Jonson, and Fletcher. This play was acted perhaps as 
early as 1608. 42 Jonson's part in this play has been disputed, 
but there seems to be internal evidence that he had a hand in 
it. The disguise part of this plot comprises the retro- 
disguise (by this time a well-established motive) and the 
supposed farcical wedding. The situation is further in- 
volved by the use of surprise. Now these combinations 
re-appeared in a very close parallel by Jonson in the New 
Inn, so that unless we accuse Jonson of borrowing a plot 
in the New Inn, we may infer that he was a collaborator 
in the authorship of the Widow. 43 

42 Bullen (Middleton, 1, lxxxvi) attributes the play to Middleton 
alone and assigns 1608-9 as the date of production. 

43 See Tennant, New Inn, xliii. Also for an interesting parallel 
between these two plays and a Sanskrit play see my article in M . L. N., 
xxvii, 92. 

Koeppel (64) and Baxmann have pointed out Boccaccio's Decani., 



THE FEMALE PAGE 89 

The Martia plot of the Widow is as follows: Martia, 
disguised as a man, is robbed and stripped to her shirt 
(III, 1). In this sorry plight she seeks admittance at the 
door of a house where Philippa awaits her lover. The maid 
mistakes Martia-man for the lover and gives "him" a suit 
of her master's clothes (III, 2). When Philippa meets the 
supposed young man she solicits "him," but Martia-man 
begs off by postponing the affair and gets away. Philippa 
realizes too late the danger to her honor when this "young 
man" is seen in her husband's clothes. In another scene 
the husband meets Martia-man and accuses "him" of being 
a robber. Martia-man again seeks refuge in Philippa's 
house, and the amorous wife conceives the plan of disguising 
Martia-man as a girl in order to conceal from her husband 
the intended intrigue (V, 1). Now a certain Francisco falls 
in love with Martia-man-girl, much to the amusement of 
Philippa and her maid, who think their refugee is a young 
man. This supposedly farcical courtship leads to a mar- 
riage between Francisco and Martia-man-girl, at which all 
the witnesses hold their sides in laughter. But jest turns to 
earnest, for a gentleman standing by takes his cue and 
dramatically recognizes the supposed boy bride as his 
daughter. Bride and groom are happy, but Philippa has 
to continue her life of prosaic fidelity. 

As we read this summary we must remember that the 
theater spectators were victimized as much as Philippa and 
her maid, for nothing in the lines informs the listener of the 
original disguise. The denouement is a genuine surprise 
revelation. The reader of the play is likely to forget this 
because the stage directions call Martia by her real name 
and furthermore say "disguised as a man." 

II, 2, as an analogue to the Martia-robber plot. But it is very impor- 
tant to note that Boccaccio does not use disguise, since his story is that 
of a merchant who is robbed and stripped, and afterwards entertained 
by a widow with whom he spends the night. 



90 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

During the decade when so much ingenuity was exerted 
on disguise plots there were also a number of plays that 
used the female page in the traditional manner, very inci- 
dentally and without much dramaturgic skill. For the sake 
of completeness and to emphasize the extensive use of the 
female page disguise we shall mention a half dozen such 
plays. In the Latin comedy Zelotypus, acted at Cambridge 
about 1600-1603, Lavinia disguises as a man in order to fol- 
low her husband, who has been exiled from Venice. The 
husband has gone no farther than the beach, where he is 
disguised as a fisherman. Fate so orders it that he is able 
to rescue Lavinia-man from drowning. He does not recog- 
nize her at first and she declares she is a Sicilian slave, but 
finally husband and wife are revealed to each other. 

In 1604 the female page disguise was used incidentally 
in the anonymous Fair Maid of Bristow, and in Middleton 
and Dekker's I Honest Whore. In both plays the disguise 
is discovered almost immediately and does not affect 
the action. 

Edward Sharpham's Fleire, entered in 1606, contains 
two female pages of minor importance. In this comedy 
of London manners two girls disguise as boys in order to 
interfere with their lovers' attentions to a pair of courtesans. 
The pages fail to secure services with their lovers, but are 
employed by two noble suitors to the courtesans, and in 
this service are able to frustrate a poison plot against their 
own lovers. The plot complication is slight and the dis- 
guise does not enter into the resolution. These disguises 
might have been worked into several dramatic situations 
but the author failed to realize his opportunity for dramatic 
effect. 44 

The Dumb Knight by Markham and Machin, probably 
acted in 1607, illustrates a minor but interesting use of male 

44 For other aspects of the Fleire plot see Chapter VII, page 154. 



THE FEMALE PAGE 91 

disguise for a lady. Mariana, who is in love with the im- 
prisoned Philocles, visits him and helps him escape by means 
of the time-worn device of exchanging costumes. 45 She 
remains disguised as Philocles but is soon discovered. 

In Love's Cure, or the Martial Maid by Beaumont and 
Fletcher, probably acted between 1605 and 1609, and after- 
wards revised by Massinger (Thorndike, Infl., 74), Clara, 
the martial maid, having served her father as a squire in the 
wars, makes her appearance in man's attire. But her identity 
is not concealed, and she wears female habit during the rest 
of the play. 

IV 

Our discussion has now covered the development of female 
page plots up to the theatrical season of 1608-9. The thirty 
or more plays which appeared before or by that year illus- 
trate a variety of situations and methods that left little to 
be accomplished in the way of originality in technic in the 
plays which were written after 1608-9. Between forty and 
fifty plays used the female page disguise during the three 
decades which followed. But they did not add much to the 
stock of material nor to the skilful methods already initi- 
ated. Nevertheless we shall notice a few of the most inter- 
esting of these plays, especially those falling well within the 
period chosen for this treatise. 

Disguise was comparatively uncommon in tragedies; but 
we do find it occasionally. For example, we have already 
alluded to the female page disguise in Soliman and Perseda. 
Beaumont and Fletcher used a similar situation in the Maid's 
Tragedy. The same authors used a situation in Cupid's 

46 In England it had already appeared in the Wars of Cyrus, Thomas 
Lord Cromwell, George a Greene, Knack to Know a Knave, Look About 
You, I Sir John Oldcastle, and Blurt, Master Constable. See also chapter 
III, pages 34 and 38. 



92 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

Revenge which resembles the Pyrocles and Zelmane-page 
story in the Arcadia. Both of these tragedies were per- 
formed by 1611 (Thorndike, Infl., 66, 69). 

The fifth act of the Maid's Tragedy owes a sensational 
climax to Aspatia's employment of male disguise. Her 
betrothed lover, Amintor, has abandoned her to marry 
Evadne, a union of tragic consequence. Aspatia, who has 
not been heard from since her cynical speech in act II, scene 
2, enters in disguise in the last scene of the play and intro- 
duces herself to Amintor as "brother to the wrong'd As- 
patia." She challenges him to single combat and fences 
so badly that she is slain by the false lover. Her dying 
words reveal her identity. 

The plot of this play has been generally considered the 
invention of the authors, but it cannot be said that they 
were entirely original in the scene just described. The 
female page's presenting herself as her own brother is a 
detail already used in the Maid's Metamorphosis. And the 
general tragic method of the denouement is a parallel to the 
theatrical effects in the last act of Soliman and Perseda, 
where Perseda in male disguise introduces herself to Soliman 
as "A gentleman, and thy mortal enemy," and challenges 
him to single combat. She is slain and reveals her identity 
in her dying words. The parallel must not be pushed too 
far, but there is certainly evidence of a reminiscence of the 
earlier play in the Maid's Tragedy. 

The female page situation in Cupid's Revenge is not organ- 
ically a part of the main plot. The main events would have 
taken their course and arrived at exactly the same resolution 
without the disguise. Consequently we may assume that the 
playwrights introduced the tragic episode to add theatrical 
effectiveness to the last act. 46 Without taking time to sum- 

46 Jacobi (24) thinks that the playwrights' purpose was to show a 
contrast between the devoted Urania and her unprincipled mother. 



THE FEMALE PAGE 93 

marize the plot 47 let me indicate the state of things in act V. 
Prince Leucippus has fled to the forest because Queen Bacha, 
now his stepmother and formerly his mistress, desires to 
kill him. The queen's daughter Urania would inherit the 
throne in case of the prince's death. But the simple-hearted 
Urania, scorning political honors, disguises as a boy and, 
hunting out Leucippus, offers herself to him as a page. 
Leucippus tries to dissuade the "boy" by calling attention 
to his inability to reward any service. But the "boy" re- 
mains, and when a false courtier enters with drawn sword 
and lunges at the prince, Urania-page jumps between and 
receives the blow. The prince still does not recognize her. 
Finally she reveals her identity thus: 

" Ura. I am Urania. 
Leuc. Dullness did seize me! Now I know thee well: 

Alas, why cam'st thou hither? 
Ura. Feth, for love: 

I would not let you know till I was dying; 

For you could not love me, my mother was 

So naught. (Dies.) " 

So far as I know, the only other female page in preceding 
English drama who served her lover unrewarded is Euphrasia 
in Philaster. That character naturally bears a relation to 
Urania, but there was an earlier inspiration for both of these 
pages. It has recently been pointed out 48 that the apparent 
source of the Leucippus and Urania-page episode is the 
Pyrocles and Zelmane-page story in Book II of the Arcadia. 
A quotation from that book will establish the parallel pretty 
clearly. Zelmane, daughter of Plexirtus, disguises as a page 
and serves Pyrocles devotedly for about two months. But 
she becomes ill largely through " grief e for Plexirtus fault." 
And as she dies she reveals herself to Pyrocles and adds: 

47 A good summary is given by Ward, II, 685. 

48 Herbst, 63. 



94 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

"I know you would never have loved me (and with that she 
wept) nor, alas, had it bene reason you should, considering 
manie wayes my unworthines." 

Let us now instance a couple of plays to show how certain 
traditional female page elements were worked into new plots, 
sometimes resulting in a strange mixture of ingredients. 
The mixture of romantic material with realism may be seen 
in Lodovick Barrey's Ram Alley, which was printed in 1611. 
It is a comedy of manners in the Middletonian vein but it 
is quite romantic in the use of the disguise. The very first 
lines of this play are of the traditional romantic tone: 

"Constantia. In this disguise, ere scarce my mourning robes 
Could have a general note, I have forsook 
My shape, my mother, and those rich desmesnes, 
Of which I am sole heir; and now resolve 
In this disguise of page to follow him, 
Whose love first caus'd me to assume this shape. 
Lord, how my feminine blood stirs at the sight 
Of these same breeches!" 

The apology for male costume in the last sentence goes 
back as early as Sir Clyomon. Constantia-page now serves 
her lover, and instead of discovering a rival lady as in earlier 
idealistic plays, she is able to spy upon his "punk" and the 
play soon turns into a series of vulgar intrigues and episodes. 
In the course of the play the lover pays ardent court to the 
widow Taffeta (II), while the widow's maid falls in love with 
Constantia-page and expresses her desires in the frankest 
language. This mistaken love of a woman for a female 
page was also, as we have seen, a traditional complication. 
In act V when the lover hears that the widow is about to 
marry some one else, he immediately regrets having neglected 
Constantia, throws his purse to the page (Constantia), and 
hangs himself on the spot without a moment's hesitation. 
Constantia-page runs crying for help and the lover is rescued. 



THE FEMALE PAGE 95 

Presently Constantia-page offers to get Constantia for the 
lover "If he but swear to embrace her constant love." The 
page goes out and soon the young heiress Constantia returns. 
This happy ending, though not imitative in detail, reminds 
us of the way in which Rosalind-page offers to get Rosalind 
if only Orlando "will have her when I bring her," and then 
goes out to return as herself. 

Curious reminiscences of detail crept into plays, sometimes 
perhaps unconsciously. In Nathaniel Field's Amends for 
Ladies (1611) the Ingen and Lady Honour-page story has 
been declared independent of other plays. 49 However, there 
are one or two slight borrowings. For example, the stage 
direction, "Enter Lady Honour, like an Irish Footboy," in 
the scene where she presents her lover with a letter from 
herself (II, 3), is rather an unusual specification of disguise. It 
seems reminiscent of "Enter Antonio like an Irish Footman," 
in act II, scene 1 of the Coxcomb (1609-10), where Antonio 
presents his wife with a letter from himself. Field was the 
chief actor in the Coxcomb, whence it is not strange if he 
caught a hint. Another influence on Field is shown in the 
surprise motive. This was doubtless inspired by Epicosne, 
another play in which he acted. The audience is kept 
ignorant of the fact that the "Irish Footboy" is Lady 
Honour until act III, scene 2, when she drops a hint in 
an aside. 

Fletcher returned to the use of surprise, but employed it 
ineffectively, in the Night Walker (1614). In this play a 
very active and ingenious young lady named Alathe disguises 
herself as a boy and becomes her own brother's partner in 
roguery, neither the brother nor the audience knowing that 
the "boy" really is a girl. Then after posing as a ghost, 

49 Fischer (Amends for Ladies, 36) says: "Fur den Teil der Hand- 
lung, — lasst sich kein Vorbild finden; dies ist vermutlich eigene 
Erfindung des Dichters." 



96 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

pedlar, angel, and so forth, she succeeds, through a number 
of improbable adventures, in winning back the love of her 
betrothed, whose affections had wandered. It is not until 
the last scene that the audience is aware of this roguish 
" boy's" sex and identity. But the effect of this surprise 
is not especially successful. It does not seem that anything 
was gained by witholding the information from the audience. 

Sometimes the incidents in Jacobean disguise plays are 
bizarre and improbable. In Fletcher's Love's Pilgrimage, 
which is only an adaptation of Cervantes's "exemplary 
novel" Las Dos Donzellas, we find two girls in pages' cos- 
tumes, both seeking the same faithless lover. The party 
is captained by the brother of one of the girls, all three 
people having met by accident. After adventures with rob- 
bers, and other excitement, they find the faithless lover in a 
water front brawl. He is rescued and on his supposed death- 
bed repents of his infidelity to the two girls, and agrees to 
marry one of them, — the one accompanied by her brother. 
The other girl conveniently gets the brother. 

Interest is gained in the same way by a number of sensa- 
tional happenings in the Faithful Friends, where a female 
page goes to the firing line with her lover, an officer, but is 
unrecognized by him. In the heat of battle she rescues 
him from capture by the enemy and in quieter moments 
reveals herself to him. 

Two other plays appearing just before 1616 we shall merely 
name. Middleton's No Wit, No Help Like a Woman's is a 
comedy of intrigue involving the heroine's disguise as a 
gallant. R. Tailor's Hog Hath Lost His Pearl contains 
a romantic underplot in which the female page disguise and 
the hermit disguise are essential. But both of these plays 
seem rather strange and improbable. They represent a 
strained seeking after novelty. 

One way of producing a novel effect upon an audience 



THE FEMALE PAGE 97 

that has looked long on a given motive is to turn that motive 
inside out, as it were. This can be accomplished by pre- 
tending disguise where there is none. It not only gives a 
new plot but it serves as a good-humored burlesque of the 
old situation. The familiarity of the female page situation 
enabled playwrights to introduce a variation of that theme 
by letting the people in a play suspect disguise when there 
was none at all. This happened as early as 1605. In 
Volpone Lady Would-Be, seeing her husband with a young 
man, becomes suspicious and her jealousy turns suspicion 
into assurance that the young man is a courtesan in dis- 
guise. She berates her husband bitterly for being a patron 
of a "female devil in a male outside" (IV, 1). In the next 
scene the truth is discovered and her anxiety relieved. 

Suspicion of disguise where there is none amounts almost 
to a burlesque in Honest Man's Fortune, by Fletcher, and 
perhaps Massinger, acted in 1613. In this play Laverdine 
persists in believing that the " loving and loyal page" Vera- 
mour is a woman in disguise. One of the maids also does 
"most dangerously suspect this boy to be a wench." Pres- 
ently Veramour says to the insistent Laverdine (IV, 1): 
"Well, I perceive 'tis vain to conceal a secret from you; 
Believe it, sir, indeed I'm a woman." Veramour proceeds 
to support this declaration by disguising as a woman (V, 3) 
and mock heroically saying to his old master: "I am a 
poor disguised lady, That like a page have followed you 
long For love, God wot." Veramour further informs us 
that he "took example by two or three plays, that Methought- 
concerned me." But the fact of the whole matter is that 
Veramour is really a boy, who roguishly decided to humor 
Laverdine in his suspicion of disguise. This explanation of 
the affair is made clear in the last fifty lines in the play. 50 

50 A surprising mistake is made by K. Richter in his dissertation 
(32, 33, 42). He misses the fun of the piece and thinks that Veramour 



98 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

Evidently Fletcher was again fooling the audience accus- 
tomed to the popular Philaster. 

We have now discussed more than forty English plays 
containing the female page disguise. In this brief examina- 
tion we have seen a traditional disguise blossom into maturity 
and show the first signs of decay. 51 Shakespeare, observing 
the popularity of this motive, borrowed his materials and his 
methods and wrote immortal plays. Heywood, Jonson, 
Beaumont and Fletcher introduced or invented new tricks 
of technic, but all their virtuosity could not save them and 
their plays today experience no popularity and only rare 
revival. The cause of such failure is no secret. Mere 
mechanism of costumes, disguises, speeches, and replies do 
not alone carry a drama to the hearts of an audience. The 
human element, the character, the femininity of the dis- 

really is a woman in disguise. He even speculates on the source of 
this situation (42), "In Veramour haben wir den verkleideten Mad- 
chenpagen, eine ganz gelaufige Erscheinung in der Elisabethanischen 
Dramatik." He mentions Julia, Viola, and Imogen and proceeds: 
"Dass die Verfasser diese Figur aus der zeitgenossischen Dramatik, 
meiner Ansicht nach aus Shakespeare, ganz bewusst entnehmen, zeigt 
eine Stelle unseres Stuckes selbst: Akt V, Scene 3." Evidently Dr. 
Richter refers to the lines which I last quoted. 

61 It may be worth while to set down a partial list of the female page 
plays which were produced between 1616 and 1642. They are: Fletch- 
er's Pilgrim (1621); Middleton's Anything for a Quiet Life (1619-23), 
and More Dissemblers besides Women (1622); the Witch of Edmonton 

(1621) by Rowley, Dekker, and Ford; Heywood's Fair Maid of the West 

(1622) and Challenge for Beauty (1635); Jonson's New Inn (1629); 
Ford's Lover's Melancholy (1628); Shirley's Love Tricks (1625), Wed- 
ding (1626), Grateful Servant (1629), Maid's Revenge (1639), Doubtful 
Heir (1640), the Imposture (1640), and the Sisters (1642); Massinger's 
Duke of Milan (1620), and Bashful Lover (1635); Brome's Damoiselle 
(1637), Mad Couple Well Matched (1636), and English Moor (1636-7); 
May's Heir (1620); Carliell's Deserving Favorite (1629) $ Hausted's 
Rival Friends (1631); Glapthorne's Hollander (1635); Marmion's 
Antiquary (1636); and Harding's Sicily and Naples (1638). 



THE FEMALE PAGE 99 

guised heroines which no disguise, however masculine, could 
conceal, that is the element which makes the Rosalinds, and 
Portias, and Violas endearing. Their male apparel not only 
does not conceal, but it actually reveals their feminine 
charm. Therein lies the art of Shakespeare. When we 
turn to retro-disguises, surprises, sensational episodes, and 
burlesques we may get a certain startling effectiveness, to 
be sure, but it is only a momentary brilliance and not the 
steady radiance of greater genius. 



CHAPTER V 
THE BOY BRIDE 

By gar I am cozoned. I ha married oon Garsoon. 

— Merry Wives of Windsor 

The popularity of the female page was never equalled by 
the reverse disguise, that of a boy dressed as a girl. Even 
in Italian drama the farcical boy bride of Plautian origin was 
never as frequent as the female page. 1 In English sword 
plays and morris dances the familiar grotesque and farcical 
character "Bessy" was acted by a man dressed in woman's 
clothes. 2 The conception of a man dressed as a woman is 
always farce. This perhaps explains the comparative un- 
popularity of the boy bride. We have seen that the dis- 
guised heroine became an important, if not essential, part 
in romantic comedy. A romantic comedy situation could 
be spun out for hours without seeming to pall on the spec- 
tators. But farce must by its nature be quick, flashing and 
momentary. It cannot easily be sustained for any great 
length of time. That is the important reason why the dis- 
guise of a man as a woman is not generally found as the basic 
cause of main complications. There are, however, three or 
four exceptions, the most notable being Jonson's Epiccene, 
or the Silent Woman. 

1 See Chapter III, page 48, for mention of Italian adaptations of 
Plautus's Casina. 

2 An influence of this character is shown in the masque in act IV, 
scene I, of the Thracian Wonder, 1598 (Fleay, Biog. Chr., I, 287), where 
the clown is "dressed like Maid Marian." 

101 



102 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

Another fact may help to explain the difference in popu- 
larity between the boy bride and the female page. We have 
suggested in the previous chapter that the use of boy actors 
may have added piquancy to the part of the disguised hero- 
ine. Perhaps the fact that the performer of a boy bride part 
was really a boy had a dampening effect. Women's parts 
were, of course, always played by boys dressed as women. 
Consequently there was no real difference in acting the part 
of a woman character and the part of a boy disguised as a 
woman. Hence there was no novelty in the latter situation 
and no special appeal to the spectator's imagination. It 
did not have the whimsical attractiveness of a female page 
part acted by a boy. 

The various cases of men or boys disguised as women 
may be catalogued in three classes. The first includes the 
simple disguises which did not lead to any further com- 
plication. The second type we may call the male mistress 
situation. It includes cases where the disguised boy was 
mistakenly loved and wooed by some man. Most of the 
plays we are to consider fall into that class. But the best 
complication resulting from a man's use of feminine garb is 
where the person so disguised becomes the bride of some 
braggart gallant or old dotard much to the joy of the intri- 
gants. This type, which we may call the boy bride situa- 
tion, is exemplified in Epiccene. 

We have already seen in the preceding chapter that when 
Shakespeare produced his female page plays he was follow- 
ing a fashion and putting on the stage the type of plot which 
had already met with the frequent favor of the London 
audiences. It is not easy to think of Jonson as following 
anybody in England, but we shall see that in many of his 
disguise plays he was to a certain extent influenced by his 
English predecessors or contemporaries. The dependency of 
Epiccene may best be determined by giving an account of all 



THE BOY BRIDE 103 

the male mistress plays which preceded it in England. The 
results will show that when Epicoene was produced the Lon- 
don playgoers had already laughed at a considerable number 
of plays in which boys were disguised as girls. 

But before going on to a discussion of Epicoene's predeces- 
sors, let us remind ourselves of the elements in the disguise 
situation of Jonson's play. The components are: a boy 
dressed as a woman; the wooing of this male mistress; the 
disguised boy's mingling intimately with ladies ; a braggart's 
confessing that he has had an amour with the male mistress ; 
the old man's marriage to the disguised boy, and the jeering 
when the boy bride is undisguised. The serious purpose of 
the stratagem is to get money from the victim. Finally, 
a distinctive feature of the play is that the whole disguise 
intrigue was a complete surprise to the spectators, who had 
not been led to suspect the sex of "the silent woman." 

A boy disguised as a girl appears in the Latin Cam- 
bridge play, Byrsa Basilica (1569-70. See Chapter IV, 
page 62), the earliest use of the motive in plays composed 
in England. The plot was perhaps of no great influence 
on succeeding plays, but we shall nevertheless give a 
brief summary. Emporius woos Virginia. A rival wooer, 
Cap-a-pe, is advised to get Emporius intoxicated, and 
then to carry off Virginia. The drinking duel of the two 
rivals results in Cap-a-pe's becoming swinishly drunk; and 
in this condition he reaches Virginia's house where he goes to 
bed. Virginia escapes in the clothes of Cap-a-pe, who is 
forced to wear Virginia's clothes when he departs. In this 
costume he is offered to Emporius on the pretense of being 
Virginia, but his identity and that of the real Virginia are 
disclosed before other complications can arise. 

We do not find another case of a boy disguised as a girl 
until fifteen years after this Latin play, in Lyly's Gallathea, 
where Cupid disguises as a nymph. The love god uses this 



104 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

device — so he says (II, 2) — in order that he may better 
exercise his power over the virgins of Diana. Cupid is cap- 
tured and threatened with punishment for his mischief, but 
is finally released. This is only a simple use of disguise. It 
might have been elaborated into a male mistress situation 
by having Cupid mesmerize the pastoral swains into love 
with him as nymph only to plague them by revealing his 
identity as a boy. 

Such a mistaken wooing was soon presented on the public 
stage. It was used incidentally in two plays which were 
both printed in 1594, and both acted possibly as early as 
1588. 3 These plays are the Wars of Cyrus and the Taming 
of A Shrew. In act II of the Wars the heroine Alexandra 
escapes personal danger by exchanging costumes with her 
page Libanio. Libanio-as-Alexandra is held captive and put 
under the care of Dinon. The keeper, misled by the cos- 
tume and dissimulation of Libanio, makes love to his captive, 
who pretends to favor the suit and lulls Dinon to sleep with 
a sweet song, only to slay him and escape. Libanio reaches 
the home of the heroine and is rewarded. The Inductions 
to A Shrew and The Shrew are familiar to all. Let us only 
observe one or two points in the structure. In A Shrew the 
roguish noblemen tell Sly that his lady has come to con- 
gratulate him on his safe return. This "lady" is a boy in 
woman's attire. But Sly is deceived and says: "Come sit 
down on my knee, Sim, drink to her, Sim, For she and I 
will go to bed anon." Just then the players are announced 
and the boy-lady is sent as a messenger to tell them to begin 
their comedy, a rather inappropriate errand for a person 
supposed to be a real lady. Thus the episode ends rather 
abruptly and no further allusions are made to the "lady." 
Shakespeare's chief improvement of this episode consists in 

3 See Keller, Wars of Cyrus, 9; and Tolman, Shakespeare's Part, 
210. 



THE BOY BRIDE 105 

letting Bartholomew-girl by clever argument dissuade Sly 
from his amorous desires. The ending, though abrupt, is 
poetical : 

"Come, madam wife, sit by my side, 
And let the world slip: we shall ne'er be younger." 

But neither Shakespeare nor his predecessor made very skil- 
ful use of this disguise. Both plays lose dramatic value in 
not revealing the sex of the supposed lady; for, as the case 
stands, it is a practical joke which is never made known to 
the victim. 

Horse-play was necessary to please one element of the 
Elizabethan audience, and was easily furnished by the far- 
cical male mistress situation. Two bits of buffoonery 
which were especially frequent seem to go back as far as 
Plautus's Casina. In that play an armor-bearer is dis- 
guised as a girl and substituted for Casina, the bride to have 
been. When the husband kisses "her" he feels a rough 
beard, and in a moment the supposed bride gives him a 
vigorous trouncing. The joke about the beard and the vio- 
lent beating of the victim were both continued in Elizabethan 
plays. 

Greene in his Orlando Furioso added a farcical disguise 
situation to the original story (Schulz, 3). Orlando's 
page dresses up the clown as Angelica, not bothering about 
shaving his beard, for he knows that the mad Orlando will 
not observe it. The trick works ill to the clown, however, 
for Orlando mistakes him for his betrothed and supposedly 
false Angelica, and beats him off the scene. The purpose 
of this disguise digression in the play is merely to raise a 
laugh from the groundlings. It reminds us of a similar bit 
of farce in Munday's Downfall of Robert, Earl of Huntington, 
where the Bishop of Ely attempts to escape disguised as an 
old woman, but is recognized immediately because of his 



106 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

beard. 4 Dramatically the disguise had no value in the plot, 
but there was theatrical point in the ludicrous case of the 
bishop. Shakespeare has a similar bit of farce in the Merry 
Wives. When Falstaff, disguised as the Witch of Brentford, 5 
is hustled roughly out of doors the Welsh parson evidently 
pierced the disguise, for he says: "By yea, and no, I think 
the o'man is a witch indeede: I like not when a o'man has 
a great peard; I spie a great peard under his muffler." 6 In 
Fletcher's Monsieur Thomas (after 1610) 7 when Hylas kisses 
Thomas, who is disguised as a girl, he notices the beard, but 
stupidly remarks: "Her lips are monstrous rugged; but 
that surely Is but the sharpness of the weather." 8 

The other farce motive which has become a literary tradi- 
tion was the violent beating administered by the supposed 
lady. In Lyly's Woman in the Moon such a scene occurs 
when Stesias, disguised as his wife, encounters the three 
lovers who had appointments with her and gives each one 
a lusty beating. 9 We find a similar comic action in Chap- 
man's May Day, where the supposed lady accompanies his 

4 This disguise is supposed to be historical. See Hart's Merry 
Wives, 176. 

5 Professor Brander Matthews (Moliere, 261) has compared Fal- 
staff's escape with that of the hero in M. de Pourceaugnac. 

6 The boy bride in the last act of Merry Wives will be discussed 
below, page 112. 

7 See below, page 118. 

8 The incongruity of a man's bearded face in a woman's part seems 
to have been a standing joke. When Flute is asked to play the part 
of Thisbe he objects: "Let not me play a woman; I have a beard 
coming." It is related that Charles II, one day annoyed by a delay 
in the theater, sent for Davenant, the manager, and asked him why the 
play did not begin. Sir William replied: "Please you, sir, the queen is 
not yet shaved." 

9 A similar scene occurs in Pidinzuolo, an anonymous Italian farce, 
played in 1517. A lover has a rendezvous with a lady, but, instead of 
the lady, her brother in female disguise comes and whips the lover. 



THE BOY BRIDE 107 

revelation with a sound trouncing of the wooer. Chapman 
borrowed part of the male mistress situation from the Italian 
play Alessandro, of which May Day is an adaptation, but the 
violent ending of the scene is the English playwright's addi- 
tion. In Monsieur Thomas Thomas, disguised in his sister's 
clothes, is mistaken for the sister by the father, who orders 
her back to the house. But Thomas responds by knocking 
his father down. The beating motive is especially effect- 
ive in Philotus, as will be seen below. It also occurred 
in a great number of plays after the period which I am 
considering. 

But to furnish the mere claptrap of acting was not the 
worthiest function of disguise. A real, constructive value 
was the motivation of comic entanglement. The exchanging 
of costumes by a young man and a girl in order to facilitate 
the escape of one of them often resulted in comic compli- 
cation for the man in female costume. We have already dis- 
cussed the situations in Byrsa Basilica and in the Wars of 
Cyrus. In George a Greene, the Pinner of Wakefield we have 
another male mistress complication resulting from the ex- 
change of costumes. This farce motive, as well as the other 
disguise motives in the play, are taken with no important 
variation from the prose romance, the Famous History of 
George a Greene. A part of the plot may be summarized 
here. Wily on his own initiative conceives a stratagem for 
bringing the lass Bettris to his master George a Greene. 
Disguised as a "semster's maide" he presents himself at the 
home of Grimes with the fiction that he is bringing work to 
Bettris, the daughter of the house. Grimes, meeting the 
disguised Wily on the doorstep, is immediately charmed by 
the supposed sempstress, who manages to escape into the 
house. Presently Bettris, having put on the apparel in 
which Wily entered, passes Grimes safely, although he 
again wants to make love. This happens in act III, and in 



108 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

the last act the identity of the "sempstress" is still unre- 
vealed. Grimes gets consent of George and the King to 
marry "her." But Wily, a bit frightened, reveals herself 
with the words: "Witnesse, my Lord, if that I be a woman; 
For I am Wilie, boy to George a Greene, Who for my 
master wrought this subtill shift." 10 

The simple disguise episodes are uninteresting, but they 
should be taken account of, because every situation contain- 
ing a boy disguised as a woman would tend to make that 
disguise a stock device before Jonson's comedy appeared. 
In Haughton's Englishmen for My Money, or A Woman 
Will Have Her Will (1598, Henslowe) Walgrave, disguised 
as the neighbor girl Susan, enters the home of his beloved 
Mathea. Her father falls in love with the supposed girl, 
makes amorous suggestions, and temporizes (as he thinks) 
by sending Susan to bed with Mathea! Four other plays 
dating from about 1595 to 1606 presented men disguised as 
women, with little complication resulting therefrom. In 
Heywood's Brazen Age Hercules serves Omphale a while 
clad in woman's garments. But there is no mistake in iden- 
tity and no complication. In Armin's Two Maids of More- 
clacke the lover is told that he may claim his bride when he 
"has been from himself a woman." He satisfies the demand 
by disguising as a nurse. An interesting scene occurs in the 
last act of Day's Law Tricks, where the page Joculo attempts 
to play the role of a long lost daughter returned. At first 
he seems certain of success, while the real daughter who is 
actually present is considered an impostor. But a rigid 
cross-examination finally reveals the fraud. In Dekker and 

10 In Markham and Machin's Dumb Knight is an exchange of no 
consequence. Philocles gets out of prison by exchanging costumes 
with his lady love who has just come to visit him. The trick is suc- 
cessful, but Philocles, after speaking a couple of lines, goes out and no 
further dramatic use is made of the device. 



THE BOY BRIDE 109 

Webster's Westward Ho the suspicious Justiniano disguises 
himself as his own wife and meets a gentleman whom he 
suspects of alienating his wife's love. Justiniano discovers 
that his wife is faithful. 

A unique situation is developed in Look About You (printed 
1600) when Robin Hood plays the part of Lady Faucon- 
bridge. Sir Richard Fauconbridge has been tricked by his 
own wife, who has made love to him under the character of 
a "merchant's wife." He so far forgets his marital vows 
under the spell of the "merchant's wife" that he makes an 
assignation with her in his own home. A very funny scene 
ensues when Robin Hood, disguised as Lady Fauconbridge, 
and Lady Fauconbridge herself, disguised as the "mer- 
chant's wife," keep Sir Richard bouncing between his desire 
to maintain outward respectability and his eagerness for an 
amour. Finally both Robin Hood and the lady throw off 
their disguises and Sir Richard can only resort to the familiar 
explanation that he had known his wife all the time. 

It may have seemed unconvincing to some playwrights 
to expect that a youth old enough and large enough to take 
the part of a hero should be able to disguise himself suc- 
cessfully as a girl. Hence a certain verisimilitude was ob- 
tained by disguising the hero as an amazon. In Sidney's 
Arcadia Pyrocles had disguised himself as an amazon, 11 and 
in Antonio and Mellida the hero had utilized the same dis- 
guise. 12 Day employs an amazon disguise as a basic motive 
in the Isle of Gulls (1605), a play which is reminiscent of the 
Arcadia. 13 The result is an involved situation of much 

11 The Pyrocles-amazon disguise is borrowed from Amadis of Gaul, 
Book XI. See H. W. Hill, 12. 

12 A later amazon disguise occurs in Swetnam, the Woman Hater 
(1618). In Shirley's Arcadia (1633) Pyrocles is disguised as an ama- 
zon. 

13 See Hill, 32. 



110 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

comic irony. Lisander disguises himself as an amazon and 
comes to woo the duke's daughter Violetta. In the course 
of things the duchess herself falls in love with Lisander- 
amazon, for she suspects that he is really a man. The duke, 
on the other hand, believing Lisander a woman, falls in love 
with "her." He plans to gull his wife by encouraging her 
delusion (as he supposes it) concerning Lisander-amazon's 
sex. So he tells the duchess that Lisander really is a prince 
in disguise come to woo Violetta (which is the truth, al- 
though the duke does not suspect it). The duchess woos 
Lisander and the eavesdropping duke thinks it a capital 
joke. Lisander now arranges a secret appointment with 
the duchess, and in his amazon character he promises to meet 
the duke at the same place. He complicates matters still 
further by disguising a courtier in his own amazon dress and 
sending him to the double rendezvous. Finally, after much 
comic worrying by the duke and the duchess, the ruse is 
discovered. 

There are only a few plays in which the male mistress 
motive is a fundamental cause of complication. One we 
have just described. Another is the Latin comedy Labyrin- 
thus, described in the previous chapter. Let us glance at 
the plot again, this time fixing our attention on the male 
mistress. Lepidus, disguised as a girl "Lepida," carries on 
a love affair with a lady. Horatius has fallen in love with 
"Lepida" and employs his page (Lucretia in disguise) to 
make an assignation for him. Lucretia is practical enough 
in her love for Horatius to substitute herself for "Lepida." 
Horatius, now madly in love with "Lepida," insists on 
seeing "her" next time. Again Lucretia-page outwits her 
lover and substitutes for "Lepida." Now whenever Hora- 
tius speaks of having enjoyed "Lepida" (which is some- 
what like the braggart assertions of La Foole and John Daw), 
he is ridiculed by those who know "Lepida's" sex. In the 



THE BOY BRIDE 111 

end, however, after he has heard of the substitute trick, he 
marries Lucretia. 

We have mentioned earlier in this chapter that the dis- 
guise in Epicoene was engineered in order to trick Morose 
out of his money. A bit of cozenage in Marston's What 
You Will (printed 1607) bears a remote resemblance to this 
purpose in Epicoene. A certain page declares he "will con- 
vey, crossbite, and cheat upon Simplicius," and executes his 
threats by disguising Pippo as a " merchant's wife," intro- 
ducing this creature to Simplicius as an attractive lady of 
open mind toward affairs of love. The page first explains 
to his victim that the lady's fool has a strange habit of 
demanding rapiers, purses, and trifles, but that this must 
be humored, for the property is always returned. Of course 
the fool is impersonated by the intriguing page himself, and 
Simplicius, who falls madly in love with the male lady, is 
neatly relieved of his hat, cloak, rapier, and purse. 14 

A similar but more daring scheme for obtaining money 
by means of the male mistress disguise is worked out in 
Middleton's Mad World, My Masters (printed 1608). Folly- 
wit, who has often duped his grandfather, learns that the 
old gentleman has a "quean." So he disguises himself as 
the courtesan and gains access to an inner chamber which 
contains a chest of jewels. On the way to this chamber the 
disguised grandson is beset by the butler, who woos the 
supposed courtesan as he has often wooed the real one. 
This time the "courtesan" promises a meeting and the butler 
is overjoyed. When the old gentleman finds his casket 
rifled he is furious but decides gamely that his lechery has 
been fairly punished. By some irony of fate Folly wit mar- 
ries the very courtesan he had impersonated, and when the 

14 In Nash's Unfortunate Traveller (1594) Jack Wilton disguises 
himself as a "half crown wench" and cozens a Swiss captain out of 
six crowns. 



112 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

grandfather sees his own rubies on her hands he is only- 
confirmed in the belief that the courtesan had robbed his 
casket. The truth is never revealed to the old man. 

Let us now summarize briefly the significance of the 
twenty-odd plays which we have just examined. Our 
study of these plays has proceeded on the theory that those 
disguise plays produced in London which used the theme 
of a boy disguised as a girl would in the course of time make 
the boy mistress situation a stock device in England, and 
that Jonson's Epiccene was an unusually successful appli- 
cation of this stock motive. By 1608 theatergoers had 
already seen twenty or more plays in which some boy or man 
had masqueraded in the clothes of the opposite sex. In ten 
of these plays the disguise of sex had led to a mistaken woo- 
ing by some man who suffers ridicule because of his mistake. 

Even the victim's marriage to the boy bride had been 
seen in English plays before Epiccene. The situation had 
been used in the eighth novel of Riche's Farewell. The 
same story had constituted the comedy Philotus, printed in 
Edinburgh in 1603. And a boy bride had been dimly 
limned in no less a play than Shakespeare's Merry Wives. 
Therefore Jonson may just as fairly be charged with bor- 
rowing from English as from Italian or Latin drama. 

In the Merry Wives Anne Page has promised to meet 
Slender at the masque of fairies, dressed in green. She has 
also promised to meet Dr. Caius, in white. Both Slender 
and Caius are gulled, for they carry off boys who had been 
disguised as girls, dressed respectively in the colors agreed 
upon, and supplied with code words. Dr. Caius rages: 
"Ver is Mistris Page: by gar I am cozoned. I ha married 
oon Garsoon, a boy." 

The eighth novel in Riche's Farewell is the tale of Phylotus 
and Emelia, and, as far as the disguise plot is concerned, the 
comedy Philotus presents no substantial difference. Whether 



THE BOY BRIDE 113 

Riche's novel is older than the comedy or vice versa, or 
whether the two plots have a common source cannot at 
present be said. 15 The story is briefly as follows: The 
father of Emelia wishes to marry her off to old Phylotus. 
But her young lover Flavius helps her elope with him, escap- 
ing from home disguised as a young man. "Now it fell 
out" that Phylerno, Emelia's brother and double, who has 
just returned, is captured by the father and Phylotus, and 
naturally enough is mistaken for Emelia-in-disguise. The 
brother plays up to the joke, " admits " that he is Amelia, 
sends for her clothes, and goes home with old Phylotus to 
live as his daughter until the marriage. Fate is kind to the 
young man, for the old dotard puts Phylerno-girl in the same 
chamber with his own daughter Brisella. This results in a 
happy union for them. 16 When the wedding day comes 
Phylerno-girl goes to church and is united in holy matri- 
mony with Phylotus. At night the bride and groom 
have a tilt to determine who shall have the mastery. 
Phylerno-girl pummels the blood out of Phylotus's face 
and forces the old man to accept terms of peace. The 
terms are that the bride shall come to his bed only once a 
month and that it shall be in the dark and no word spoken. 
The ingenious Phylerno sends a street walker to fill his place 
while he goes to his Brisella. This arrangement is soon 
interrupted, for it so happens that Emelia's lover Flavius 
had been at church and had seen the wedding of Phylotus 
to Phylerno-girl. He mistook the bride for his own mistress 
Emelia; and the next time he sees Emelia he drives her into 
the street. The distracted girl goes home and confesses all 
to; her father, finally revealing the true state of things. 
This completes our consideration of the male mistress 

15 See the preface (viii, ix) to Riche's Farewell, Shak. Soc, 1846. 

16 The preliminary to this union is a pretended metamorphosis of 
sex in answer to Phylerno's prayer. See Chapter IV, page 64. 



114 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

and boy bride plays which preceded Epicoene. Now it may 
be admitted that the resemblances between Jonson's play 
and the preceding disguise plays are by no means close paral- 
lels. But it must then be observed that there is no closer 
parallel between Casina and Epiccene; yet Plautus's play 
is usually given as the source of Jonson's disguise plot. 17 

The story of Casina tells of a married man who is in 
love with Casina and wants his bailiff to marry her, so 
that he may himself safely carry on an amour. The wife 
discovers the plan and substitutes an armor-bearer in dis- 
guise for the bride. When the bailiff and the lover come 
to embrace the bride they are respectively welcomed by 
sound thrashings. The theme common to this play and 
Epicoene is the marriage to a disguised youth instead of a 
girl. But the reasons for this disguise trick, the results of 
it, and the theatrical representation of the situation in 
Casina have no counterparts in Jonson's play. The truth 
of the matter is, it seems to me, not that Plautus was the 
direct source of Jonson's play, but that Plautus was the ulti- 
mate source of a number of Italian plays, which inspired a 
number of English plays, which established a certain tradi- 
tion, which culminated in Epicoene. 

In this culmination we admit that there was more of 
creation than of borrowing. The lady love or wife who 
turned out to be a man in disguise was, as we have seen, a 
stock situation. But in presenting this old situation Jonson 
with great skill, as we shall see, made a radical departure 
from traditional methods in technic. We have already ex- 
pressed our views in Chapters II and IV 18 that surprise is 
not good dramaturgy because it victimizes the audience. 

17 Miss Henry in her edition of Epicoene (xxxiv) follows Koeppel 
(Quellen Studien) in saying that Plautus's Casina was the source of the 
disguise in Epicoene. 

18 See Chapter II, page 13, and Chapter IV, page 86. 



THE BOY BRIDE 115 

However, to Jonson and certain fellow dramatists the motive 
seemed desirable for some reason, perhaps as a novelty in 
contrast with the old expository methods. The fact that 
Jonson decided to make the boy bride situation a complete 
surprise to the audience gave him a new problem in comedy 
structure. For, since the spectators were not to be informed 
of the disguise, they could not look upon that motive as the 
cause of any humorous complication. In other words, the 
spectators, not knowing of the disguise, would not realize 
until the end of the play that certain incidents were dramatic 
complications. Consequently Jonson used another dra- 
matic cause to give meaning and humor to the incidents 
throughout the play. From a story by Libanius he got the 
idea of Morose's "humour," the peculiar aversion to all 
sorts of noise. This "humour" in the play impels the action 
so naturally and completely that the plot would have been 
considered good even if the last two pages of manuscript 
had been lost and we had never known that this noisy bride 
was really a boy in disguise. 

The double operation of these two motives is the dis- 
tinguishing feature of the play. One motive, the aversion 
to noise, is known to the audience at the beginning of the 
play and operates forward. The other motive, the presence 
of disguise, is not suspected and therefore must operate 
backward in the spectator's recollection of the scenes which 
have just been performed. Let us analyze the technic 
of Epicoene by arranging the incidents of the play in two 
groups according to the motive upon which they depend 
chiefly for dramatic value. 

(a) Incidents that are comic because of Morose's objection 
to noise: 1. The first scenes develop Morose's "humour." 
His aversion contrasts well with his own talkativeness. 
2. Epiccene speaks so low as to be almost inaudible. 3. The 
parson can be heard only with difficulty except when he 



116 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

coughs. 4. Epiccene berates Morose for being angry with 
the parson. 5. Boisterous congratulations of Morose. 
6. Truewit's noisy burlesquing of Morose's curses. 7. 
The collegiate ladies demand festivity. 8. Cleremont's 
introduction of drums and trumpets, banqueting and 
drinking, the quarreling collegiates, the fighting Mr. and 
Mrs. Otter, etc. 9. The noisy woman drives Morose to 
talk of divorce. 10. A garrulous divorce proceeding. 

(b) Incidents that appear doubly comic when the audience 
has discovered that the bride is really a boy : This would in- 
clude nearly all the incidents of the first group, in addition 
to the following: 1. John Daw courts the "silent woman." 
2. Epicoene kisses the collegiate ladies. 3. Daw hints that 
he has been intimate with Epiccene. 4. Epiccene requests 
certain "excellent receits" from the collegiates. 5. Epiccene 
and the collegiates indulge in amorous secrets. 6. John Daw 
and La Foole both confess that they have enjoyed Epiccene 
before she became a bride. 7. Morose confesses to impo- 
tency in order to get his divorce. 8. But Epiccene declares 
that no cause will separate her from her husband. 9. 
Dauphine is promised inheritance of Morose's whole estate 
providing he can cancel the match. He proceeds to do so 
by taking off Epiccene's wig. 

This unexpected disguise revelation adds a new comic 
aspect to the whole play and imposes the necessity of a 
second reading or witnessing of the play before it can be 
fully enjoyed. The comic stuff resides in the relations 
which the supposedly silent woman bears to Morose, to the 
braggart fools, and to the collegiate ladies respectively. The 
discovery of the disguise serves not only as a complete 
denouement which resolves every complication, but as an 
intensifier of the whole comedy; for the various relations 
just mentioned seem doubly funny when it is remembered 
that the noisy "silent woman" is of the male sex. 



THE BOY BRIDE 117 

The stage history of Epicoene is curious. The play en- 
joyed considerable popularity until Garrick's production 
in 1776. 19 Some critics thought that the play then failed 
because the part of Epicoene was acted by a woman. This 
theory, however, does not seem tenable, for the part had 
been successfully acted by women ever since 1664. 20 The 
real reason, as Miss Henry suggests, is that the eighteenth 
century was too "genteel" to appreciate inelegant and 
coarse humor. As for the surprise ending, there seems to 
have been no serious objection until recently. Prof. Gayley 
says, "Not by reason of, but in spite of its denouement, 
was the popularity of the Silent Woman achieved." 21 The 
proposition as stated might be difficult to prove in a law 
court, but it no doubt voices the opinion of many contem- 
porary critics. 

We must remember that Jonson was experimenting, as 
we have shown in the previous chapter. He and Beaumont 
and Fletcher seem to have become tired of the conventional 
technic whereby the audience had the plot pretty clearly 
explained to them before it ever happened. Consequently 
these playwrights made a radical departure in the surprise 
ending, a trick of technic which frequently recurred in 
succeeding plays. Jonson used an incidental surprise in 
the Alchemist (1610), where Surly masquerades as a Spaniard 
for three scenes before the audience learns of his real iden- 
tity. In the New Inn (1631) father, mother, and daughter 
are in disguise, but the audience does not know of it until 
the very end of the play. In the Staple of News (1625) 
Jonson accompanies the surprise motive with a criticism of 
the shock of surprise. Pennybody has been spying in dis- 
guise on his prodigal son until the end of act IV, when he 

19 Henry, xxv. 

20 Henry, xxiii. 

21 Gayley, II, 121. 



US DISGUISE PLOTS IX ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

suddenly reveals himself. Expectation, one of the gossips 
making running comments on the play, says: "Absurdity 
on him. for a huge overgrown play-maker! Why should he 
make him live again, when they and we all thought him 
dead "- In Fletcher's Night Walker (1614) the female page 
is a surprise.- 3 In Fletcher's Loyal Subject (1618) the audi- 
ence does not know until the end that "Alinda" is young 
Archas in disguise. Other interesting plays containing sur- 
prise revelations of disguise are Massinger's Bondman (1623) 
and Bashful Lover (1635\ Shirley's Wedding (1626), and his 
Sisters (1642), Gaffe's Careless Shepherdess (1623), Brome's 
City Wit (1629), Carliell's Deserving Favorite (1629), 
Hausted's Rival Friends (1631), and Marmion's Antiquary 
(1636). These plays and others that might be named show 
that the Epicane and Philaster type of denouement exerted 
considerable influence on later dramaturgy. 

To return to the main subject of this chapter let us glance 
at two or three plays that followed Epicane and were in- 
spired, if not by the details, at least by the general situation 
in that play. It cannot be said that there was any close 
borrowing on the part of these followers. But it is inter- 
esting to note how they carried on the tradition of the male 
mistress and boy bride disguises.' 24 

Fletcher's Monsieur Thomas (produced after 1610) - b con- 
tains a boy bride situation in the last two acts. Thomas 
dons his sister's clothes in order to cam' out a love intrigue, 
the incidents of which we shall not now narrate. But the 

■ Compare Truewit's remark at the end of Epiarne; see Chapter 
II. page 13. 

n For a description of the Xight Walker see Chapter IV. 

u Miss Henry {Bpiumnu, lvii") calls Jasper Mayne's City Match and 
P. Hausted's Rical Friends "literary descendants" of Epicoene. Yet 
neither of these two plays uses the male mistress motive. 

45 See Stiefel, Zur QiwUenfrc.ct. 2±2. 



THE BOY BRIDE 1 19 

young man i- mistaken for hi.- sister by a number of people, 
among them his father, whom he knock- down. Another 
victim of the disguise is a certain Hylas. Thomas-girl 
roguishly receives the caresses and kisses of Hylas, who is 
so stupid that he imputes the bristling roughness of Tom'.-, 
lips to the "sharpness of the weather." Soon Thornas-girl 
i- married to the eager Hylas, who somehow loses track of his 
bride for a few hours. When he sees Torn- sister Dorothy 
he naturally claims her as his wife, and she, of course, thinks 
he is mad. Hylas won sees through the trick that has been 
played on him, but finally gets Dorothy after all. 

Scholars have cited Whetstone's Heplamercm, IV, 1, and 
Boccaccio's Decameron IV, 2, and VIII, 4 as sources of the 
scenes which we have just summarized. 26 But these novels, 
although they have some resemblance to Monsieur Thomas, 
do not contain the boy bride or the male mistress disguise. 
Yet Fletcher here fell in line with contemporary London 
tradition; from English plays, as we have seen, he might 
have borrowed the male mistress, the boy bride, the joke 
about the beard, and the beating motive. 

An incidental boy bride situation occurs in W. Smith's 
Hector of Germany (printed in 1615). Old Fitz waters is 
affianced to Floramel and young Fitzwaters is in love with 
her. She prefers the son, and with the help of a steward 
contrives to substitute a disguised page at the wedding. 
As he leaves the church old Fitzwaters learns that he has 
been gulled. Meanwhile Floramel and her lover have put 
to -ea. 27 

An incidental male mistress motive occurs in Daborne's 
Poor Man's Comfort (1613). In a mad-scene Sijru-rnund 
thinks that the clown Catzo is a woman, and solicits "her" 

» See Guskar, 23. 

27 Marriages to boy brides occur in Love Tricks (1625J and in Love 
in a Maze (1632), both plays by Shirley. 



118 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

suddenly reveals himself. Expectation, one of the gossips 
making running comments on the play, says: "Absurdity 
on him, for a huge overgrown play-maker! Why should he 
make him live again, when they and we all thought him 
dead?" 22 In Fletcher's Night Walker (1614) the female page 
is a surprise. 23 In Fletcher's Loyal Subject (1618) the audi- 
ence does not know until the end that "Alinda" is young 
Archas in disguise. Other interesting plays containing sur- 
prise revelations of disguise are Massinger's Bondman (1623) 
and Bashful Lover (1635), Shirley's Wedding (1626), and his 
Sisters (1642), Goffe's Careless Shepherdess (1623), Brome's 
City Wit (1629), Carliell's Deserving Favorite (1629), 
Hausted's Rival Friends (1631), and Marmion's Antiquary 
(1636). These plays and others that might be named show 
that the Epicoene and Philaster type of denouement exerted 
considerable influence on later dramaturgy. 

To return to the main subject of this chapter let us glance 
at two or three plays that followed Epicozne and were in- 
spired, if not by the details, at least by the general situation 
in that play. It cannot be said that there was any close 
borrowing on the part of these followers. But it is inter- 
esting to note how they carried on the tradition of the male 
mistress and boy bride disguises. 24 

Fletcher's Monsieur Thomas (produced after 1610) 25 con- 
tains a boy bride situation in the last two acts. Thomas 
dons his sister's clothes in order to carry out a love intrigue, 
the incidents of which we shall not now narrate. But the 

22 Compare Truewit's remark at the end of Epicoene; see Chapter 
II, page 13. 

23 For a description of the Night Walker see Chapter IV. 

24 Miss Henry (Epicoene, lvii) calls Jasper Mayne's City Match and 
P. Hausted's Rival Friends "literary descendants" of Epicoene. Yet 
neither of these two plays uses the male mistress motive. 

25 See Stiefel, Zur Quellenfrage, 242. 



THE BOY BRIDE 119 

young man is mistaken for his sister by a number of people, 
among them his father, whom he knocks down. Another 
victim of the disguise is a certain Hylas. Thomas-girl 
roguishly receives the caresses and kisses of Hylas, who is 
so stupid that he imputes the bristling roughness of Tom's 
lips to the "sharpness of the weather." Soon Thomas-girl 
is married to the eager Hylas, who somehow loses track of his 
bride for a few hours. When he sees Tom's sister Dorothy 
he naturally claims her as his wife, and she, of course, thinks 
he is mad. Hylas soon sees through the trick that has been 
played on him, but finally gets Dorothy after all. 

Scholars have cited Whetstone's Heptameron, IV, 1, and 
Boccaccio's Decameron IV, 2, and VIII, 4 as sources of the 
scenes which we have just summarized. 26 But these novels, 
although they have some resemblance to Monsieur Thomas, 
do not contain the boy bride or the male mistress disguise. 
Yet Fletcher here fell in line with contemporary London 
tradition; from English plays, as we have seen, he might 
have borrowed the male mistress, the boy bride, the joke 
about the beard, and the beating motive. 

An incidental boy bride situation occurs in W. Smith's 
Hector of Germany (printed in 1615). Old Fitzwaters is 
affianced to Floramel and young Fitzwaters is in love with 
her. She prefers the son, and with the help of a steward 
contrives to substitute a disguised page at the wedding. 
As he leaves the church old Fitzwaters learns that he has 
been gulled. Meanwhile Floramel and her lover have put 
to sea. 27 

An incidental male mistress motive occurs in Daborne's 
Poor Man's Comfort (1613). In a mad-scene Sigusmund 
thinks that the clown Catzo is a woman, and solicits "her" 

26 See Guskar, 23. 

27 Marriages to boy brides occur in Love Tricks (1625) and in Love 
in a Maze (1632), both plays by Shirley. 



120 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

amorously. In so far as Catzo is a clown disguised as a 
woman, and the victim of the deception is mad, we have a 
resemblance to the farcical scene in Greene's Orlando, where 
the hero mistakes the disguised clown for his betrothed 
Angelica. 

We have now brought the tradition of the male mistress 
disguise up to 1616. In our comparison of the various 
plays studied in this chapter we have made the observation 
that the disguise of a boy in woman's clothes resulting in 
the wooing, or farcical marriage of the supposed lady, was 
an old and familiar theme in England when Jonson pro- 
duced Epiccene. We have also seen that, although none of 
the male mistress or boy bride plays stand slavishly near 
to Plautus, his pleasant shadow hangs over them all. But 
Epicozne is interesting more for its technic than for its 
material. We have shown by a detailed analysis just how 
the surprise discovery of disguise differed dramaturgically 
from the conventional motivation of disguise action. The 
new technic, like recent revolutionary practices in painting, 
may have been extreme, but there is no doubt that it helped 
to place dramaturgy on a more sophisticated level and to 
direct its appeal to an audience no longer naive. 



CHAPTER VI 
THE ROGUE IN MULTI-DISGUISE 

I cane turne into all 
Coullers like the commillion. 

— The Marriage of Wit and Wisdom 

In the previous chapters we have remarked that the 
appeal of the female page situations was largely due to the 
conditions of the stage, the fact that boys played female 
parts; we have also remarked that this same fact may have 
been one reason why the boy bride situation did not seem 
quite so appealing. We shall now discuss a group of dis- 
guise plays that owe their existence evidently to the presence 
of a "star" impersonator in the Admiral's Men. These 
curious disguise plays in which the chief performer makes 
a great number of changes with amazing rapidity may well 
be called "Virtuosenstucke." * The almost acrobatic action 
is as mystifying as a sleight-of-hand performance. But in 
spite of, or because of this, they were good "box office plays." 
It is a significant fact that four popular multi-disguise plays 
were all produced by the Admiral's Men between 1594 and 
1600. I suggest that these plays were used as a vehicle 
for starring a single skilful performer. 

Monday's John a Kent and John a Cumber 2 was played 
thirty-two times from December 1594 to July 1597. 
Chapman's Blind Beggar of Alexandria was played twenty- 
two times from February 1595-6 to April 1597. And the 

1 Creizenach, IV, 252. 

2 Greg endorses Fleay's theory that this is the play referred to by 
Henslowe as the "Wiseman of West Chester." 

121 



122 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

fact that in 1601 Henslowe expended over nine pounds for 
properties for this play, seems to indicate that it was still 
going. Concerning the stage history of Look About You, 
printed in 1600, and of the Blind Beggar of Bednal Green, 
mentioned by Henslowe in 1600, we know less. But since 
two of the multi-disguise plays were so popular up to April 
and July of 1597, it seems to me very probable that the other 
two were produced after that time, perhaps in the next the- 
atrical season. This theory fixes 1597 as the date post quern 
for Look About You and the Blind Beggar of Bednal Green, 
both of which were written by 1600. 

There may have been a fifth multi-disguise play tried out 
by the Admiral's Men, which Henslowe calls " The Desgyses." 
Fleay thought that this play might have been a first draft 
of Chapman's May Day. Sir Sidney Lee recently remarked 3 
that a "free French metrical version by Jean Godard of 
Ariosto's comedy (J Suppositi) was printed under the title 
of Les Desguisez in 1594," and added that Henslowe's lost 
piece "translates, there can be no doubt, the new French 
recension of / Suppositi." What evidence beyond the titles 
Sir Sidney has in support of his theory he does not state. 
One objection to the theory that Henslowe's Disguises was 
an English translation of a French metrical version of an 
Italian comedy is that I Suppositi was not a multi-disguise 
play, and consequently not the kind of disguise play which 
Henslowe was featuring in 1595. A study of the chrono- 
logical table 4 which I have transcribed from Henslowe's 

3 French Renaissance in England, 420 n. 

4 The Wiseman, New, Dec. 2, 1594. 

Wiseman, Dec. 6, 29; Jan. 16, 23, 1594-5; Feb. 4, 12, 19, 28; 
April, 25, 26; May 6, 15, 26; June 4, 11; Aug. 26; Sept. 9, 29. 
Disguises, New, Oct. 2, 1595. 
Wiseman, Oct. 6. 
Disguises, Oct. 10, 16. 
Wiseman, Oct. 19. 



MULTI-DISGUISE 123 

Diary suggests to me that, after the Wiseman of West Chester 
(John a Kent) had proved successful, Henslowe wanted to 
add another multi-disguise play to his repertoire, and tried 
the Disguises, which failed after six performances, but was 
followed by the Blind Beggar, which succeeded and was kept 
in repertoire with John a Kent. 

But we have at least four English multi-disguise plays 
extant, and upon examination of them one makes the inevi- 
table inference that these plays were written for the Admiral's 
Men primarily in order to exploit some clever actor who pos- 
sessed remarkable ability as a mimic and impersonator. 

The nature of the plots in these plays is nearly always 
the same. The main character is a rogue skilful in dis- 
guising, who keeps the action moving by shifting from one 
costume into another, the exchange of costume taking place 
almost instantaneously. The result is normally a shifting 
from one complication into another. Hence a multi-disguise 
play is really a chain of incidents. 5 At any rate this type of 

Disguises, Oct. 27, 30. 
Wiseman, Nov. 7 (?) 
Disguises, Nov. 10. 

Wiseman, Dec. 30; Jan. 17, 1595-6; Feb. 4. 
Blind Beg., New, Feb. 12, 1595-6. 
Beggar, Feb. 16, 19, 22, 26; April 15. 
Wiseman, April 17. 
Beggar, April 26. 
Wiseman, April 30. 
Beggar, May 3, 13, 18; June 3. 
Wiseman, June 8. 
Beggar, June 25; July 5. 
Wiseman, July 7. 

Beggar, Nov. 6, 12; Dec. 2, 10, 23; Jan. 15, 1597 (sic) 25; 
March 14; April 1. 
Wiseman, July 8, 12, 18. 
5 We have said in the previous chapter that in a farcical play dis- 
guise is usually incidental or episodic. Observe that in multi-disguise 



124 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

play departs farther than other types from any rigid scheme 
of rise and fall, tying and untying of action, such as critics 
have applied as the test of a well-constructed play. 

The representation of many characters simultaneously by 
one actor probably developed from the device of shifting 
rapidly back and forth from the real character to the dis- 
guised character, a dramatic motive which we have already 
found in Plautus's Miles Gloriosus. 6 Similar rapid changing 
occurs in da Bibbiena's Calandria (1513), which we have 
discussed in chapter III. 7 In that play Lidio and his twin 
sister make many shifts. Lidio appears as himself in I, 2; 
as a woman in III, 24; as himself in V, 1; as a woman in 
V, 3, and finally as himself in V, 5. Santilla appears as 
Lidio in II, 1; as herself in III, 24, and as Lidio in IV, 3. 
This shifting, however, involves only one disguise of each 
character, and is therefore quite different from multi-disguise 
where a single actor represents four or more different charac- 
ters. Somewhat more like the English plays is Cervantes's 
Laberinto de Amor 8 where a girl disguises successively as 
shepherd, student, peasant man, peasant girl, and princess. 
Yet this Spanish play, although presenting many disguises, 
does not have quick changes in the action. Multi-disguise 
perhaps appeared in the commedia dell' arte;* but as far as 
we can judge there was no direct influence on the English 
drama from any of the sources we have just mentioned. 
However, it is probable that English actors have borrowed 

plays the multiplicity and continuity of these incidents make disguise 
the basic dramatic motive. 

6 See Chapter III. 

7 See page 45. 

8 See Chapter III. 

9 Creizenach (IV, 252) says that the motive was very common in 
the commedia dell' arte. I am not able to corroborate his statement 
after an examination of fifteen scenarii from the Scala collection. None 
of the fifteen plots contained multi-disguise. 



MULTI-DISGUISE 125 

from the stagecraft of the Italian actors in the commedia delV 
arte. Quick changes of aspect by means of wigs, false beards, 
or false noses that could be slipped on or off in a twinkling 
are provided for in the English plays, and this art was 
doubtless developed in Italy. Possibly masks were used in 
the multi-disguise plays but we have no evidence to support 
such a theory. In this connection we are reminded of 
Moliere's Medicin Volant, said to have been derived from the 
improvised comedy of Italy. 10 In that play Sganarelle dis- 
guises himself as a doctor, and by a series of lightning changes 
maintains his part as servant, as well as the fictitious part 
of doctor. 

Anthony Munday, the "best plotter," started the fashion 
of multi-disguise plays in England 11 in John a Kent and 
John a Cumber. Two noblemen, Griffin and Powess, are in 
love with Sidanen and Marian. But these two ladies are 
to be married off on the morrow to Pembroke and Morton. 
The two lovers determine to outwit the nances, and appeal 
to John a Kent for magical aid. John promises assistance 
but makes the mental reservation that he will 

"Help, hinder, give, take back, turn, overturn, 
Deceive, bestow, breed pleasure, discontent, 
Yet comicly conclude, like John a Kent." 

He produces a false beard and disguises as a hermit fortune- 
teller. In this character he directs the two ladies to wash 
in St. Winfrid's well. Next he undisguises, and sends the 
two lovers to the same spot. He then resumes his disguise 
and brings the two lovers and the ladies together at the well. 
The happy party is soon safe in a castle. 

10 Matthews, Moliere, 59. 

11 The Marriage of Wit and Wisdom looks like a multi-disguise play 
but is not. See Chapter II, page 19. Fraud in Wilson's Three Lords 
and Three Ladies of London (1585) makes four changes of character. 
But the disguises are symbolized. 



126 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

Meanwhile, Pembroke and Morton are frantically search- 
ing for their prospective brides. By accident John a Cumber 
comes wandering from Scotland and offers to help the nances 
by setting up his skill in magic against that of John a Kent. 
He disguises himself like John a Kent, and the next morning 
when the two lovers are taking the air outside the castle, 
Cumber-like-Kent lets in the fiances disguised like " an- 
tiques." When they have thus gained an entrance Cumber- 
like-Kent enters the castle and bars the gate. Presently 
the real John a Kent comes along and the lovers realize 
that they have been victimized. 

This brings us to the middle of act III and from that time 
onward the numerous surprising incidents and sudden shifts 
render it useless to attempt an intelligible summary of the 
plot. John a Kent is assisted by Shrimp, a dexterous boy 
who crawls in and out through keyholes, and whose other 
powers are much the same as those of Ariel. 

John a Kent makes six changes during the play. He 
disguises first as a hermit, then undisguises, then is hermit 
again, then himself, then disguises as John a Cumber, and 
finally resumes his own shape. As a hermit he wears a beard 
and a gray friar's gown. As himself he wears green. There 
is no evidence concerning his other costumes. 

Munday's play resembles the three which followed, not 
only in general structure but in details of action and scene. 
The scene where the magician, disguised as a hermit, tells 
fortunes is imitated in the openings of both the Blind Beggar 
of Alexandria and Look About You. The hermit disguise is 
evidently used in the Blind Beggar of Bednal Green, judging 
from Bess's various uses of the word "father," and the 
"Beggar's" frequent reference to his cell. 12 

12 These hermit scenes may be indebted to a similar scene in act III 
of George a Greene, The Pinner of Wakefield (mentioned by Henslowe 
in 1593). 



MULTI-DISGUISE 127 

Munday's play seems very complicated and full of involved 
circumstances when compared with earlier disguise plays, 
but it pales into utter simplicity beside Chapman's Blind 
Beggar of Alexandria, the multi-disguise play which the 
Admiral's Men produced a little more than a year later. 13 
In that play the "Beggar" leads a quadruple life which 
requires a constant shifting of costume as well as the pres- 
ervation of four distinct personalities. The most farcical 
complication of all is his relations with a couple of sisters. 
Disguised as a blind hermit he predicts whom they will 
marry. He then marries both in the two different char- 
acters as he had foretold, and by simply reversing these 
characters he becomes the paramour of each woman. After 
a while when the women are about to become mothers, he 
announces the death of one fictitious husband and lets his 
brother report the death of the other. Those two disguises 
are then discarded forever. Finally, disguised as the new 
king, he sympathizes with the ladies over the deaths of their 
husbands. 

To attempt a continuous narration of the plot would only 
perplex the reader. Therefore we may simply note the ac- 
tions of each character while the Beggar is in that role. 
The first character is Irus, the blind hermit. His costume 
in that part is distinctive, the hood and perhaps dark glasses 
easily concealing his identity. The second character is the 
"mad brain Count Hermes," who dresses in a velvet gown 
wears a velvet patch over his left eye, and carries a pistol. 
The Beggar's third self is Leon, the rich usurer, who is recog- 
nized by his great nose, the frequent object of jest in the 
play. And finally, as his fourth self he is Duke Cleanthes, 
who wears a sword, and, although an Egyptian nobleman, 
doubtless dresses in some Elizabethan court costume. 

13 When this play was printed in 1598 the disguise was advertised on 
the title page by the phrase "his variable humours in disguised shapes." 



128 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

As "Irus" the Beggar tells Queen iEgiale how to find her 
lover, Duke Cleanthes ; he prophesies to Elimine that she 
will marry "Count Hermes"; he prophesies to Samathis 
that she will marry "Leon," the rich usurer; he witnesses 
falsely in favor of "Leon," who extorts money from a debtor, 
and he tells Queen iEgiale how to kill her son and her husband. 

As "Count Hermes" he marries Elimine, humiliating his 
rival, a Spanish braggart; he witnesses falsely in favor of 
"Leon" ; he becomes the paramour of Samathis, and he slays 
Prince Doricles. 

As "Leon" he marries Samathis; he falsifies a note and 
extorts a large sum from Antistines; he becomes the paramour 
of Elimine; he reports the death of "Count Hermes," and 
finally collects some outstanding bills. 

As "Duke Cleanthes" he humiliates four kings; he meets 
the wives of "Count Hermes" and "Leon" and sympa- 
thizes over the deaths of their husbands. Evidently also 
he succeeds to the throne of Egypt and presumably marries 
iEgiale, the Queen. 

After reading such a bewildering series of incidents one 
is tempted to suggest that the Blind Beggar and his tribe 
were burlesques of the disguises used in serious comedies. 
But there is nothing to show that these plays were in any 
sense burlesques. They are deliberate farces, but nothing 
more. 

To act the part of the roguish Beggar in his fourfold 
capacity would certainly require a man of much versatility. 
And yet the test was not the severest possible, for the four 
characters in the Blind Beggar of Alexandria are all fictitious. 
And, of course, when a character is fictitious there is no 
imitation or impersonation required. But in Look About 
You the character called Skink impersonates, first, a real 
hermit whom he has slain; second, a stammering porter's 
son; third, the Earl of Gloucester; fourth, Prince John; 



MULTI-DISGUISE 129 

fifth, an alehouse drawer; sixth, the hermit again; seventh, 
a falconer; eighth, the hermit; and last he is discovered as 
Skink. Four of the persons imitated appear at various times 
during the action in their real characters. The play is further 
complicated by the fact that six persons besides Skink 
employ disguises. The necessity for ready impersonation 
of other characters made the role an exacting one. I think 
it must have been played by the actor who had already won 
his spurs in the two plays just described. 

In this play our attention is centered on Skink, a court 
creature, who has murdered Rosamund and the hermit, and 
perhaps others, but who is in spite of all this a pleasant vil- 
lain. A German scholar has said that Skink is not a descend- 
ant of the Vice, which may be true, but to the less critical 
observer Skink recalls a number of roguishly vicious pred- 
ecessors. 14 In the play even the victims of his tricks refer 
to him as "This mad-mate Skink, this honest, merry knave." 
Instead of summarizing the plot we shall content ourselves 
with narrating the incidents in Skink's career during the 
play. The "old king's" party has been in search of the 
assassin Skink for two months, while he has been safe behind 
the hermit's gown, "beard and counterfeited hair." One 
day he goes to court in his own shape and is almost par- 
doned by his friend, the prince, but the pardon misses fire 
and again Skink must become a fugitive from justice. In 
striving to escape the criers he exchanges clothes with the 
stammering Red Cap. Skink, who now has to stammer his 
speeches, carries a message to Gloucester, his enemy, who is 
a prisoner in the Fleet. Gloucester forces the supposed 
Red Cap (Skink) to exchange costumes with him. Glouces- 
ter now is free, but has to stammer. Skink plays the part 
of the Earl, but is unfortunately in prison. Prince John 
comes to the Fleet and the "Earl of Gloucester" (Skink) 
14 Eckhardt, 191. 



130 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

plays with him at bowls, and during the game succeeds in 
getting Prince John's cloak, sword and hat. In this dis- 
guise Skink regains his freedom. In the garb of Prince John 
he meets Sir Richard Fauconbridge and borrows a gold chain 
from him! Sir Richard goes out, and the next minute 
Gloucester, now disguised as Sir Richard, comes in. Skink, 
as Prince John, now fears that he is under suspicion, and 
returns the chain to "Sir Richard" (as he supposes, but 
really Gloucester). This puzzles Gloucester, who thinks he 
is talking with Prince John. The real Prince John enters 
presently, but not before Skink has escaped. 

In the evening we find Skink in a tavern still disguised 
as Prince John. He hears the voices of his pursuers below, 
and in a twinkling seizes the drawer's apron, smears his own 
face with blood, and pretends to the pursuers that Prince 
John has struck him. They know that the "Prince John" 
must be Skink, and therefore ask the supposed drawer where 
the scoundrel went. He directs them into an inner room 
and escapes into the darkness outside. 

By this time matters have come to such a pass in the 
play that four characters, Prince John, Prince Richard, Sir 
Richard Fauconbridge, and Lady Fauconbridge, resolve 
separately to repair to Blackheath in order to get help 
from the soothsayer and holy hermit. This hermit, of 
course, is Skink, who has a merry time giving his questioners 
most amazing information, especially about the escapades 
of Skink. The listeners appear somewhat doubtful and the 
hermit replies in a veiled allusion: 

"Himself if he deliver not so much, before you sleep, 
Root me from out the borders of this realm." 

Finally the hermit tells Prince John and Sir Richard that 
Skink is going to make a robbery at a certain corner. They 
start for the place. Immediately Skink emerges from the 



MULTI-DISGUISE 131 

cell disguised as a falconer, with a patch on his face and 
carrying a falconer's lure. By talking loudly as he goes 
out he gives the impression that he is taking leave of the 
hermit within. Skink, now disguised as a falconer, promptly 
goes out and robs Prince John and Prince Richard as he had 
said he would. He also reveals himself and laughs at the 
discomfiture of his victims. They immediately suspect the 
identity of the hermit. And meanwhile the fates are setting 
a trap for Skink. Gloucester has come to the hermit's 
cell, and, finding the temporarily discarded garments of the 
holy man, has decided to play the hermit himself. Hence, 
when Prince John and Sir Richard go back to the cell, they 
find the hermit quietly counting his beads, and consequently 
decide that their suspicions were wrong. That was a bit 
of good luck for Skink, but the sly old fox knows that it is 
only a temporary salvation. As a last resort he gets his 
other hermit suit and tries to face it out against Gloucester. 
Each hermit now declares the other a counterfeit and him- 
self real. The result is that both fugitives are exposed and 
captured. After a spectacular court scene both are pardoned. 

The device which forces the discovery of disguise is, as 
we have said in Chapter II, 15 a good bit of technic. A com- 
mon method of forcing revelation was the simultaneous 
appearance of the real character and the impersonator. 
But this play is original, I believe, in presenting two imper- 
sonators in identical disguises, each person insisting that 
the other is an impostor. 

This account by no means exhausts the disguises in Look 
About You, but we shall not strain the reader's patience by 
further synopsis. We have gone thus far because we felt it 
necessary to show that this play was the acme of multi- 
disguise. One might almost say it is disguise gone mad. 
I do not know the origin of the plot, but it sounds like folk- 
15 See page 11. 



132 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

lore. 16 The formula is simple — a fugitive running down the 
road and forcibly exchanging costumes with every one he 
meets, to be mistaken for each in turn. Whoever the author 
of Look About You was, it is evident that he was writing for 
some star of the Admiral's Men, and that he was trying to 
outdo the intricacy of the two older plays in the repertoire 
of the company. 

The fourth multi-disguise play is the Blind Beggar of 
Bednal Green, which was written before May 1600 (Hens- 
lowe) by Chettle and Day. It seems to me a safe guess 
that the authors wrote this play in order to cater to the 
same taste which had already approved of multi-disguise 
plays. A hint or two and doubtless the title were derived 
from a ballad entitled the Beggar's Daughter of Bednal 
Green. 17 

Without narrating the plot we shall indicate the character 
and number of the hero's changes. Lord Mumford, exiled 
as the result of a conspiracy, decides to remain in England 
in disguise. First, he spies on his enemies as an old lame 
soldier; second, he is the "blind beggar''' who lives on Bed- 
nal Green; third, he enters "like a serving man"; fourth, 
he is the "beggar" again; fifth, the " servingman " ; sixth, 
the "beggar" ; seventh, he appears as the "serving man," and 
finally he undisguises. Some of the shifts back and forth 
from "serving man" to "beggar" are very rapid and remind 
us strongly of the plays previously considered. But in gen- 
eral this plot does not possess the rapid action which was 
necessary for a good multi-disguise play. 

16 See, for example, the Ballad of Gude Wallace (Child, III, 273). 
It relates how Wallace, besieged by enemies, escapes from his mistress 
in the disguise of a woman. Presently Wallace doffs the female ap- 
parel and exchanges clothes with a beggar whom he has met on the 
road. 

17 Percy, II. 



MULTI-DISGUISE 133 

Before dismissing the Blind Beggar of Bednal Green let us 
note the comic irony in the speeches of Bess to the "beggar," 
her father in disguise. These quotations are especially 
interesting because they belong to the very rare use of veiled 
allusions in the multi-disguise plays. Bess sees her father 
dressed as an old soldier but does not recognize him. She 
hands him a coin and says: 

"Good Father take it; 



My Father was a Souldier, maym'd like thee, — 
Thou in thy limbs, he by vil'd infamy." 

Later Bess becomes the ward of the "blind beggar." The 
first sound of his voice recalls her father, but she does not 
recognize the "beggar." She says to him: 

"I call'd thee father, .... 
.... were my father here 

Hee'd tell thee that his Daughter held him dear; 
But in his absence, Father, thou art he." 

In another speech she is close to the actual fact when she 
says: 

"Within thy looks I see the presence of my reverend Father." 

About 1600 the multi-disguise fashion seems to have been 
played out after six years of popularity. At least we do not 
know that any more such plays were written after that date. 
Perhaps the novelty had worn off. Perhaps the great im- 
personator had died. Or perhaps the four plays we have 
here studied held their place on the boards and sufficiently 
met the demand of the day. But whether they were kept 
in repertoire or not they exerted some literary influence. 
Their excessive disguises seem to have affected a dozen or 
nore plays between 1598 and 1616. 

Jonson probably got a hint for the tricky Brainworm in 
Every Man in His Humour. Brainworm disguises first as an 



134 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

old soldier (somewhat like Momford) and by a cock-and-bull 
story of wars and destitution succeeds in selling a worthless 
old rapier. Then, in the character of the soldier, he takes 
service with his own master. Next he indulges in a drink- 
ing match with Justice Clement's man in which he exchanges 
costumes with that victim. And in this second disguise he 
delivers a counterfeit message which helps the lovers in the 
play. Brainworm soon meets Matthew and Bobadil who, 
having a grudge against Downright, bribe the supposed 
Justice's man to secure a warrant for Downright's arrest. 
Brainworm disguises himself as a City Sergeant and makes 
the arrest. Finally, when the tricks are exposed, Justice 
Clement drinks sack to the rogue and pardons him for the 
"wit of the offence." 18 

In the structure of this play the main comedy is depend- 
ent on the " humours" of the persons, while the movement 
from one situation to another is to a great extent brought 
about by the disguises and intriguing of Brainworm. 19 

Two somewhat similar multi-disguises appear in later 
plays. In Sharpham's Fleire (entered in 1606) Antifront 
disguises as the "Fleire" in order to spy upon and protect 
his wayward daughters. Second, he disguises as an apothe- 
cary in order to defeat their plot when they send for poison 
to murder their scornful lovers. Third, when the girls and 
their agents are brought to trial he disguises as a doctor of 
laws in order to conduct the trial to a happy ending. 

In Middleton's Family of Love (licensed in 1607) Gerardine 
disguises (IV, 2) as a porter and delivers a false letter which 

18 Compare the four disguises assumed by Crasy in Brome's City 
Wit. Also note the similarity of the names Brainworm and Crasy. 

19 Jonson planned multi-disguise in his Sad Shepherd, where Maudlin 
says that she will appear in "mony shapes today" (II, 1). In the 
fragment the witch appears first as Marian, then as herself, and next 
as Marian again. 



MULTI-DISGUISE 135 

makes it appear that Dr. Glister is father to a bastard. 
Next Gerardine disguises as an " apparitor" and hears the 
charges against Dr. Glister. Third, Gerardine disguises as 
a doctor of laws and pronounces Dr. Glister guilty, but 
promises to withhold the penalty on condition that he may 
marry Dr. Glister's daughter Maria. When Dr. Glister 
subscribes to this the roguish lover undisguises. 

Sometimes the main purpose of the rogue was to get money, 
and the clever dodges adopted make us feel with Justice 
Clement that the disguised rogue ought to be pardoned for 
the wit of the offense. In Marston's Dutch Courtesan 
(printed in 1605) Cockledemoy, described as a "knavishly 
witty City Companion," one day disguises as a barber and 
shaves Mulligrub, a rich vintner. During the bustling ton- 
sorial business the "barber" manages to pick the pockets 
of his victim. Next he assumes some other disguise and 
cozens Mrs. Mulligrub out of a gilded cup and a large succu- 
lent salmon. When the outraged Mulligrub gets on Cockle- 
demoy's trail the latter drops his cloak, which Mulligrub 
picks up; he is forthwith arrested and put in the stocks for 
theft. Cockledemoy now assumes his third disguise, that 
of a bellman, and discovering Mulligrub in the stocks, con- 
fides with him, receives his purse for safe keeping, and prom- 
ises to inform the constables of his good reputation. When 
the constables arrive the "bellman" makes such accusa- 
tions of Mulligrub that the poor fellow is carried off to jail. 
Cockledemoy 's fourth disguise is that of a sergeant; in this 
character he picks the purse of a gentleman on trial. At 
the end of the play the rogue promises to return the stolen 
goods and is pardoned. 20 

20 Koeppel (29) points out that the tricks of Cockledemoy owe 
something to the 66th novel in tome I of Painter's Palace of Pleasure. 
But I observe that that novel, however, contains no disguise. There 
is also no disguise in the 24th novel of tome II, which is cited as analo- 
gous to other parts of this play. 



136 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

Another play in which a persistent campaign of disguise and 
cozenage is waged is Middleton's Mad World, My Masters 
(1606), where Follywit victimizes his grandfather. First, 
disguised as "Lord Owemuch," he gets the secrets of his 
grandfather's will; then, masked as a robber, he and his 
companions rob the old man, telling him as a precaution 
that they have already robbed and bound "Lord Owemuch." 
Third, Follywit, disguised as a courtesan, gets access to the 
old man's chamber and carries off a box of jewels. Finally, 
at a feast Follywit disguises as a player and, on the pretext 
of needing "properties" for the comedy, gets his grand- 
father's chain, jewel, and watch. At the end of the play 
the grandfather, who had always prized his grandson's wit, 
forgives him. 

Cozenage on a professional scale is carried on in Beaumont 
and Fletcher's Beggars' Bush (1622), where the "knavish 
beggars" Higgins and Prigg disguise four times each. In 
Middleton's Michaelmas Term (1604) Shorty ard and False- 
light assist their master Quasimodo in an extensive plan for 
cheating Easy out of his estate. Each of the two roguish 
servants disguises three times as various fictitious persons, 
who lead Easy deeper and deeper into the toils until he is 
forced to sign away his lands. 

Multi-disguise involving three or four changes of costume 
and employed for other purposes than roguery are found in 
the Two Maids of Moreclacke, Westward Ho, Cupid's Whirligig, 
Woman is a Weathercock, and Faithful Friends, all appear- 
ing before 1616; but we shall not take the time to discuss 
these plays. 21 Shakespeare himself employed multi-disguise 
on a small scale in King Lear. Edgar disguises first as 

21 In Fletcher's Pilgrim (1621), based on Lope de Vega's Peregrino 
en su P atria, Alinda disguises as a boy, "she-fool," old woman, and 
shepherdess. In Massinger and Fletcher's Very Woman (1634) Paulo 
uses three different disguises within the limits of one scene (IV, 2). 



MULTI-DISGUISE 137 

a mad peasant (IV, 1, 6), when he leads Gloucester to the 
cliff. Then by simply changing his voice after the blind 
Gloucester supposes he has fallen, Edgar produces the 
effect of another disguise. In act V, scene 3 his identity 
is concealed by appearing in complete armor. 

This completes the group of plays selected for the study 
of the rogue in multi-disguise. In harmony with the general 
theory that plays are rigidly conditioned by the physical 
demands and opportunities of the stage for which they are 
written, we have suggested in this chapter that the curious 
multi-disguise plays which the Admiral's Men performed 
within a period of six years or less may have been written 
in order to exploit the unusual abilities of one of their actors. 
Incidentally we have seen that, the vogue of multi-disguise 
plays once having been established, these plays exerted a 
traceable influence on certain other plays which followed. 

Multi-disguise is seen occasionally on the modern French stage; see, 
for example, Tricoche et Cacolet by Meilhac and HaleVy, acted 1871. 
In this play Tricoche disguises himself in seven characters and Cacolet 
disguises himself in nine characters. 



CHAPTER VII 
THE SPY IN DISGUISE 

I . . . . am resolu'd therefore, to spare 

spy-money hereafter, and make mine own discoueries. 

— Bartholomew Fair 



In war a very useful and thrilling disguise is that which 
enables a person to enter the enemy's camp and procure 
information not otherwise obtainable. During peace sus- 
picion may sometimes make it necessary to spy on one who 
is professedly in faithful relations. In any case the situation 
is fascinating, for success depends entirely on the histrionic 
ability of the spy. The theatrical potentiality of the spy 
situation obviously recommends it to the dramatist. It is 
further recommended by its unique value in plot construc- 
tion. We have already alluded to the distinctive struc- 
ture of plays like Measure for Measure (Chapter II, page 7) . 
In such a play the spy is somewhat like the man who sits 
behind the scenes and pulls the strings of a marionette show. 
But he differs from the marionette man by actually appearing 
on the open scene as a part of the show. The spy starts 
the action because of his disguise, he watches the action or 
participates in it protected by disguise, and he terminates 
the action by finally revealing his disguise. 

The history of this figure in drama does not seem to go 
back earlier than Ruzzante's Moschetta (1551), already de- 
scribed in Chapter III. 1 Subsequent instances in Italian 

1 See page 49. See Child (III, 109), for various allusions to spy 
stories dating back to the twelfth century. Boccaccio and other non- 
139 



140 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

Renaissance drama are rather scattered and it is evident 
that the spy situation had not become a traditional motive 
in any dramatic literature from which English playwrights 
drew their inspiration. But in England three allied situa- 
tions — the spying husband, the spying father, and the 
spying duke — soon became stock material, and the play- 
wrights who used those motives did not hesitate to borrow 
freely, each from his predecessor or contemporary. 

The close kinship of the English spy plays is rather re- 
markable. We rind in the father-spy and the duke-spy 
plays, not only the frequent repetition of a certain dramatic 
figure, but also interesting detailed parallelisms of plot. A 
tracing out of these resemblances will emphasize the theory 
— or perhaps it should be called truism — that a favorable 
reception of any given disguise situation encouraged imi- 
tation, more or less close, in other plays coming shortly 
after. 

The husband spying in disguise, not uncommon in medieval 
French and Italian tales, appears first in English drama in 
Peele's Edward I, about 1590. Edward, upon learning that 
Queen Eleanor has ordered two confessors from France, 
suggests that he and his brother Edmund disguise themselves 
as friars and trick the queen out of her secrets. Edmund 
foresees the consequences, and tries in vain to dissuade the 
king. At the confession the queen states that she had 
granted her favors to Edmund the night before the royal 
marriage, whereupon "the king beholdeth his brother woe- 
fully." She also says that her daughter Joan was begotten 
by a friar. Then, at peace with her conscience, she dies, 
never suspecting the identity of her confessors. The king 
turns on Edmund, who declares that the queen "grew luna- 
tic, Discovering errors never dreamed upon," but Edward 

dramatic writers will be referred to in this chapter for analogies to the 
English plays discussed. 



THE SPY 141 

curses him into exile. Joan dies from the shock of hearing 
that she is a "friar's base-born brat." 2 

The whole scene is a very effective representation of the 
triangular meeting of wife, husband, and paramour, where 
the wife unconsciously pulls down the tragic fate over all 
three. A number of early French and Italian tales which 
contain analogues to the husband confessor motive are men- 
tioned by Dunlop (II, 113) and by Child (III, 258). All 
of these early tales present an ingenious turn by letting the 
wife declare that she had discovered her husband's disguise, 
and consequently framed her expression in equivocal lan- 
guage, meaning husband when she seemed to mean para- 
mour. Peele elaborates the situation by presenting two friars 
— one the husband, the other, the paramour. This is an ad- 
vantage for theatrical effectiveness. 

From the stage manager's point of view this scene furnished 
a strong climax to the general stage business of Edward I; 
yet the situation is merely a dramatic episode, for it neither 
initiates nor resolves any main complication. Considered 
as an episode, however, it is skilfully done, with good action 
and tragic consequence. 

Lyly used the husband spy momentarily in the Woman 
in the Moon (before 1595). But the scene (IV, 1) is mere 
horse-play. Stesias learns that his wife is wanton with three 

2 The same motive of the two friars appears in the seven ballads 
published by Child in vols. Ill and IV under the general title "156. 
Queen Eleanor's Confession." Child does not date these ballads very 
definitely. Thieme and Kroneberg in their respective dissertations on 
Edward I believe, but do not prove, that the material of the ballads 
antedates the play. 

Later analogues in English drama are found in Davenport's City 
Night Cap (1624), where Lodovico, disguised as a friar, confesses his 
wife, who is wanton; and in Massinger's Emperor of the East (1631), 
where the husband in friar costume finds his wife faithful. 

See also a husband confessor in the Decameron, VII, 5. 



144 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

doubtless vital to the gaping groundlings, who preferred the 
sensational to the subtle. 

In the three plays just described, the wives, spied upon 
by their pandering husbands, were found faithful. But 
there are perhaps worse things than unfaithfulness, as may 
be seen by the skilful turn in the plot of Middleton's Michael- 
mas Term (1604). 

Quomodo, who has cozened gulls through his disguises of 
his clever servants, decides (IV, 1) to test his wife by means 
of false report of death and spying in disguise. 7 He spreads 
the news of his death, and then attends his own funeral dis- 
guised as a beadle (IV, 4) . The conduct of his wife proving 
quite satisfactory, he decides to reveal himself in a jest. In 
signing a receipt for all claims due him in that house the 
"beadle" writes his real name, Quomodo, not realizing until 
too late that he has signed away all his right (V, 1). Now 
comes his punishment. The retributory wife insists on the 
letter of the document, and marries Easy, the former victim 
of her husband's gulling. And Quomodo finds no redress 
in court. 

It has been suggested that Middleton received his inspira- 
tion for this situation from Volpone (Christ, Quellen, 108), 
but no evidence has been offered to show that Volpone pre- 
ceded Michaelmas Term. Fleay, on the other hand, pre- 
sents fair evidence that Michaelmas Term was acted in 1604, 
and Volpone in 1605 (Fleay, Biog. Chron., II, 91; I, 372). 
But there is no need of seeking a source in Volpone. The 
spy scene in question might have been suggested by a number 
of earlier spy plays. As for the device of a disguised person 
reporting his own death, that too, was already old when 
Michaelmas Term was played. The dramatic prototype of 
such false report is found in the Electra of Sophocles, where 

7 The situation reminds us somewhat of Steele's Funeral, or Grief 
a la Mode. However, in Steele's play the husband is not in disguise. 



THE SPY 145 

Orestes, unrecognized by his sister, reports his own death 
and presents her with an urn alleged to contain his ashes. 
In English drama similar false reports of death had been 
made by disguised persons in the Blind Beggar of Alexandria 
(1596), in Antonio and Mellida (1599), in the Malcontent 
(1601), in the Two Maids of Moreclacke (1603), and in London 
Prodigal (1603-05). 8 Thus we see that neither Middleton 
nor Jonson had to go far afield for this spy situation. 

The trial of a suspected wife is worked out elaborately in 
Chapman's Widow's Tears (1605). This play is an inter- 
esting illustration of dramatic economy, as we have remarked 
in Chapter II. 9 Chapman cleverly reshaped an old story by 
combining with it the disguised spy. It will be noted that 
the alteration produced sensational stage business and made 
the action theatrical. Chapman's remodelling of his material 
in the coffin and tomb scene is an evidence that he considered 
disguise a valuable motive. The raw material for this scene 
is found in the Satyricon of Petronius Arbiter. An Ephesian 
matron lingers in a tomb weeping over the coffin of her dead 
husband. (In Petronius the husband really is dead.) A 
soldier makes love to the widow, whose maid eloquently 
pleads the soldier's cause. The widow, finally yielding, 
establishes a liaison with him, using the tomb as a meeting 
place. Meanwhile, a crucified body has disappeared. The 
soldier is in danger of prosecution, but the widow rescues him 
by nailing the corpse of her husband to the vacant cross. 
So runs the tale in Petronius. 

8 In the Middle English poem King Horn there is a similar false 
report of death. Horn returns to his betrothed in the disguise of a 
palmer, telling her that Horn is dead but had sent her the ring. When 
the grief -stricken lady threatens to stab herself the "palmer" rubs the 
black off his face and reveals himself. There is a similar situation in 
the Decameron, X, 9. 

9 See page 15. 



146 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

Chapman borrowed all this gruesome material substan- 
tially and yet made an entirely new story by employing 
disguise in order to make the bewept but soon forgotten 
husband identical with the soldier lover. The dramatic 
economy and theatrical gain in this alteration is obvious. 
The wife thinks she is dealing with a lover; the audience 
knows she is being tested by her own husband; and the hero 
must exercise his skill in acting in order to maintain this 
dual role. 10 Chapman's plot is briefly as follows : Lysander, 
suspicious of his wife, Cynthia, tells her he is going away 
for a month. His brother Tharsalio, according to previous 
arrangement, reports Lysander dead, and his coffin is placed 
in the tomb. Here Cynthia sheds copious tears, a fact 
which is reported to the husband who is in hiding twenty 
miles away. Lysander now disguises as a soldier and comes 
to the tomb to woo the languishing Cynthia. She resists 
bravely for some time, but finally rewards the passionate 
"soldier" with kisses. While the "soldier" was busy mak- 
ing love, a crucified body was stolen from the tomb. Cynthia 
suggests putting the body of her late husband in place of it. 
The "soldier" now "confesses" that he had murdered 
Lysander. But Cynthia, out of a loving heart, forgives 
him this achievement! Lysander-" soldier " rages at his 
wife's shocking fickleness. Meanwhile the brother Thar- 
salio finds out that Lysander and the "soldier" are identical. 
Tharsalio, because he had not been confided this part of the 
plot, peevishly tells Cynthia who the " soldier " is. Lysander- 
" soldier" declares that he will brain Cynthia if she really 
attempts to unhearse her "dead husband's body." The 
unhearsing is about to be accomplished with a crowbar, when 
Cynthia declares that she had penetrated the "soldier" dis- 

10 The plot of Sir William Berkeley's Lost Lady (pr. 1639) might be 
considered an inverted parallel of the Widow's Tears. See Schelling, 
II, 367. 



THE SPY 147 

guise, that she had recognized her husband from the begin- 
ning, and had decided to give him what he was looking for. 
She departs in a huff, but the end of the play brings a 
reconciliation. 

Chapman in writing this play altered the old plot by 
adding two motives which, as we have just seen, were popu- 
lar in England during the few years preceding this play. 
The two additions we mean are the pretended departure 
but actual remaining in disguise, and the disguised person's 
report of his own death. An older motive, also discussed 
above, is the wife's fib that she was aware of her husband's 
disguise and had played on his jealousy. 

Another example of the disguised spy added to a borrowed 
situation is seen in Markham and Machin's Dumb Knight 
(1607). One of the scenes (IV, 1) of this play is dependent 
for its theatrical value on the disguise of the King of Cyprus, 
who spies on his wife during revels at court. Cyprus has 
been told by Epire that the queen is unfaithful with Phil- 
ocles. Consequently during the king's spying on the dances 
and on a card game his jealousy is whetted by a misinterpre- 
tation of all actions of the dance and the terms used in the 
game. He finally orders the arrest of Philocles. But in a 
later scene Epire is forced to confess that he has borne 
false witness against the queen. Good opportunities for 
acting are given by the asides between Cyprus and Epire, 
which the audience, being aware of Epire's plot, can appre- 
ciate fully. The misinterpreted card game is borrowed from 
act III, scene 2 of A Woman Killed with Kindness. In Hey- 
wood's play, however, the husband is not in disguise and is 
a participant in the game. The authors of the Dumb Knight, 
like so many contemporary playwrights, had enriched an 
old scene by adding disguise to it. 

The re-shaping of an old plot by adding disguise happened 
again and again. Cervantes's Curioso Impertinente, a story 



148 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

told in Don Quixote (Part I, Chaps. 33, 34, 35), furnished 
the plot for Beaumont and Fletcher's Coxcomb, probably 
written about 1609 (Thorndike, Infl., 68). The spying on 
the wife is not very sincere or serious, but serves to empha- 
size Antonio's character as a coxcomb. The disguise is 
introduced by Beaumont and Fletcher largely for theatrical 
effect, as may be seen by a summary of the plot. The 
Irish brogue and horse-play of act II, scene 3, and the sensa- 
tional discovery, as well as the ludicrous attitude of the 
judge in the last scene, were certain guarantees of applause. 
Antonio, desirous of proving his wife's fidelity, urges his 
friend Mercury to tempt her. Antonio assists Mercury by 
disguising himself as an Irish footman. The wife pene- 
trates Antonio's disguise but keeps the secret, and orders 
him soundly beaten by the servants (II, 3). Later, dis- 
guised as a postman, he urges her to be the best possible 
friend of Mercury. She again recognizes Antonio but says 
nothing. Finally she yields to Mercury. In the last scene 
Mercury and Antonio's wife are being tried on the charge 
of having murdered Antonio, when the "postman" reveals 
himself as Antonio. The judge remarks that "It was not 
honestly done of him to discover himself before the parties 
accused were executed!" 

It is very fitting that, after so much spying on one side of 
the family, the wife should turn around and spy on her 
husband. The spying wife 11 had appeared in 1603, in the 
London Prodigal (acts IV and V). A more basic use is in 
Robert Daborne's Poor Man's Comfort (1613). Lucius, a 
nobleman, flees to Arcadia and there, calling himself Li- 
sander, marries Urania, a shepherdess. But when he re- 
ceives news of his restored favor at court, he deserts his 
wife. Urania in disguise goes to town, and, taking service 

11 See the Alcestis of Euripides for a spying wife, who, however, is 
not in disguise. 



THE SPY 149 

with Mistress Gulman, a bawd, meets her husband Lucius, 
who is a caller on the courtesan Flavia (II, 3). This gives 
an effective little scene, in places reminiscent of Shake- 
speare. 12 Flavia asks ''Castadora" (Urania) to sing. 

"Luc. Have you a good voice Castadora? 

Vra. (Disguised) A sad voice Sir. 

Flav. He ha' you sing a merry song, I am a maid and I cannot 
mend it. 

Vra. I have no variety, I can sing but one song. 

Luc. Let's have that, What's the subject? 

Vra. Tis of a haplesse shepheardesse forsaken by her false 
lover. 

Luc. Tis too sad, I do not like it. 

Vra. I would you did not, I might sing merrily then. 

Surd. (Servant of Lucius) This wench has been with a Con- 
juror I hold my life. She knows all my Lords Knavery." 

When the king hears of the desertion he gives Lucius 
four days in which to find Urania. Meanwhile the un- 
faithful husband is in love with the strumpet Flavia, 
but "Castadora" (Urania) declares (IV) that she will cure 
her husband of this by showing that Flavia is "base and 
mercenary." In act V, 1, after Urania sees that Lucius is 
repentant, she reveals herself. The three scenes in which 
husband, courtesan, and wife-in-disguise appear together are 
full of appealing action. This triangle of characters re- 
minds us of the situation in Peele's Edward I, where queen, 
paramour, and husband-spy meet. 

The last use of the husband-spy before 1616 was in Faithful 
Friends, attributed to Beaumont and Fletcher, and probably 
written about 1614. Tullius, a Roman general, receives 
word that his wife is being solicited by the king. Tullius 

12 See Two Gentlemen (IV, 2) where Julia-page puns on musical 
terms while her lover serenades her rival. Another reminiscence of 
that scene is Lucius's remark that Urania is dead (V, 1), just as Urania 
enters. Compare also the London Prodigal. See below, page 151. 



150 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

returns and while attending a masque disguised as a fury he 
hears the king invite the wife to lodge at court during the 
night (IV, 3). In some disguise Tullius enters his wife's 
lodging and hides behind the arras, where he becomes the 
witness of the king's treachery and his wife's faithfulness 
(IV, 4). When Tullius suddenly reveals himself the king 
declares that he had no evil intentions, but was merely pro- 
tecting and testing the young wife. 13 

In summing up these husband-spy plays we must admit 
that none are models of dramatic construction. However, 
the ingrafting of the disguise resulted in considerable theat- 
rical value. The tragic climax in Edward I, the cudgelling in 
the Woman in the Moon, the surprising revelations in Zelo- 
typus, the farcical impersonations in Westward Ho, the funeral 
in Michaelmas Term, the coffin scene in Widow's Tears, the 
card game in the Dumb Knight, the drubbing scene and 
the final discovery in the Coxcomb, the involved dialog in the 
Poor Man's Comfort, the amorous soliciting in Faithful 
Friends — all these depend on the fact of disguise for their 
theatrical effectiveness. It was this theatricality which 
favored the conventionalizing of the disguised spy situa- 
tions. Their popularity is attested to, not only by the 
plays just mentioned, but also by the numerous father- 
spies and political spies who were stealthily treading the 
rushes during this decade and a half. 

13 The husband spying in disguise was not uncommon in plays after 
1616. For example, in William Rowley's Match at Midnight (1623) the 
"Widow's" husband spreads the report of his death and returns in 
disguise, serves his wife incognito, and finds her faithful. In Ford's 
'Tis Pity She's a Whore (1627) the husband spreads the report of his 
death, returns disguised as a physician, and tries to avenge himself on 
her lover. In Shirley's Hyde Park (1632) the husband, supposed dead, 
returns in disguise and spies on his wife. 



THE SPY 151 



II 



The situation of the father spying in disguise, which 
sprang into popularity about the middle of the decade 
1600-1610, 14 seems to have been first used in England in 
the London Prodigal, about 1603. 15 The most commonly 
imitated feature of this plot is the device of a half-indulgent 
father, with a turn for roguery himself, spying on a spend- 
thrift son, while serving in disguise as his menial. 

Perhaps it is well to relate the main events of the London 
Prodigal, especially since the plot was paralleled rather 
closely in II Honest Whore, which we shall presently compare 
with the London Prodigal. Flowerdale, Sr., who is suppos- 
edly away in Venice, returns in the disguise of a sailor calling 
himself "Kester," and reports his own death to his son 
Matthew, to whom he also presents his own will, a facetious 
document which does not provide for the son. "Kester" 
now becomes the faithful servant of Matthew and generously 
offers to assist him financially with twenty pounds. At a 
tavern Matthew grandiloquently courts Luce, while " Kester" 
pays the bill. The match with Luce is opposed by her 
father, but he is won over by discovering that Matthew has 
made a will in favor of Luce. This will, by the way, is false, 
and the drawing of it was instigated by "Kester." Mat- 
thew confides to "Kester" that he does not love Luce, but 

14 Some incidental spying by a father in disguise appears earlier in 
a loosely constructed play, the Rare Triumphs of Love and Fortune 
(1582), but the father is not deliberately a spy. There is a slight but 
pretty and paradoxical situation in the Downfall of Robert, Earl of 
Huntington (1598), where Fitzwater spies on his daughter Marian and 
Robin Hood by pretending that he is a blind old man. He says: 

"I'll close mine eyes as if I wanted sight, 
That I may see the end of their delight." 

15 Fleay, Shakespeare, 300. The London Prodigal was printed in 
1603. 



152 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

will marry her for her money. The disguised father is now dis- 
gusted with his son and orders the Uncle to arrest him at the 
first opportunity. On the wedding day Matthew is arrested. 
"Kester" testifies that the will is false, and the bridegroom 
is denounced by all except Luce, his wife, who asserts her 
faith in him. But Matthew advises her to turn prostitute, 
and proceeds to curse his father before "Kester." "Kester" 
disguises Luce as a "Dutch Frow" and makes it possible for 
her to spy on her husband Matthew. One day the prodigal, 
who has borrowed money on the assertion that his wife is sick, 
meets the "Dutch Frow" and tells her that his wife is dead. 
The "Dutch Frow" gives him money. Matthew, on pre- 
tence of love for this supposed new acquaintance, tries to in- 
duce her to steal plate for him. Presently he is about to 
be arrested on the charge of killing his wife. The "Dutch 
Frow" stands by him and, when threatened with arrest, un- 
disguises, revealing her identity as Luce. This devotion so 
impresses Matthew that he turns over a new leaf. " Kester ' ' 
reveals himself as the father, and fortune smiles. 

In this play we see how the prodigal son story, already 
long popular on the stage, was improved theatrically by the 
addition of the disguise motive. The art lay in the com- 
bination of old material. By 1603 a spy in disguise was no 
longer a novelty. Flowerdale's report of his own death is, as 
we have seen above, an old device. Matthew's statement to 
his disguised wife that she is dead reminds us of Proteus 's 
remark in the Two Gentlemen, when he declares to Silvia that 
his old sweetheart Julia is dead, a remark overheard by the 
disguised Julia (IV, 2; IV, 4). The spying wife, making 
her English debut here, is a natural variation of the spying 
husband. 16 

The London Prodigal is a strikingly close parallel of 27 
Honest Whore, which was presented in 1630, but probably 
16 See above, page 148. 



THE SPY 153 

acted as early as 1604. 17 Since this resemblance has appar- 
ently not hitherto been noticed, let us describe it in detail. 
The motives common to both plays are: 1. A father attends 
his child disguised as "serving man." 2. Flowerdale poses 
as a sailor, while Friscobaldo says that he "has sailed about 
the world." 3. The "serving man" talks about the father 
to the child. 4. The "serving man" assists financially to 
the extent of 20 pounds. 5. The "serving man" roguishly 
leads the child into worse complications. 6. The "serving 
man" secretly assists the child. 7. The father, by means of 
his disguise, learns the real character of the child. 8. In the 
denouement the "serving man" reveals his identity as 
the father. The similarity of the two plots is further em- 
phasized if we compare the husbands in the plays. We note 
first their identity of name, Matthew and Matheo. These 
two men are of the same stripe. Each one is a dissolute 
prodigal; each begs his wife to commercialize her sex; and 
each is arrested only to be devotedly defended by his wife. 
It is perhaps somewhat superfluous to argue that these 
resemblances taken together constitute a close parallel, and 
it seems to me a necessary inference that Dekker (or Middle- 
ton) 18 had the disguise plot of the London Prodigal in mind 
when contriving the plot of the II Honest Whore. This infer- 
ence assumes that Fleay is correct in his chronology of the 
two plays. Perhaps there is presumptive evidence in sup- 
port of Fleay in the obvious fact that the II Honest Whore 
has better technic than the London Prodigal, the presumption 
being that the more effective of the two parallel plots is the 
copy. The II Honest Whore employs the disguise to the 
greater theatrical advantage; there is much more veiled 
allusion in the dialog between father and child; and the 

17 Fleay, Biog. Chron., I, 132. 

18 Neither Miss Hunt (Dekker) nor Bullen (Works of Middleton) at- 
tempts to fix credit for the authorship of the II Honest Whore. 



154 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

disguised father submits his child to a severer test. Frisco- 
baldo, too, is a more active intrigant that Flowerdale. A 
very effective turn (not borrowed from the London Prodigal) 
is where Friscobaldo appears in his own shape (IV, 1), 
roundly berates Matheo and his daughter, and accuses the 
"serving man" of being an accomplice with Matheo in a 
robbery. Friscobaldo then goes out and re-enters as "serv- 
ing man." Matheo curses Friscobaldo behind his back (as 
he thinks) and together with the "serving man" plots to rob 
him. This device of shifting out of the disguise and back 
again was used contemporaneously in Measure for Measure, 
and earlier in the Malcontent. 19 

Since Middleton may have been part author of the II 
Honest Whore it is interesting to note his incidental use of 
the father-spy disguise in Michaelmas Term, which also 
appeared in 1604 (Fleay, Biog. Chron., II, 91). The motive 
occurs in the sub-plot and is sketched somewhat abruptly 
and crudely. The Country Wench's Father decides to serve 
his daughter, who has run away to London. He knows 
the evils of this city and protects his child unrecognized, 
finally succeeding in forcing a marriage between her and her 
lover. 

The sincere flattery of imitation is manifest in Edward 
Sharpham's Fleire, entered in 1606. It not only adopts the 
spying father, but it draws inspiration from two of Marston's 
spy plays which had preceded it. 20 The father is a cynical, 
sneering character resembling Malevole in the Malcontent. 
He further resembles Malevole in being a deposed duke in 
disguise. Note also that his real name is Antifront, while 
Male vole's real name is Altofront. In Sharpham's play the 
disguised duke is called the "Fleire," that is, a fleerer, or 
sneerer. This reminds us of the way Marston made the 

19 See further discussion of shifting, below, page 166. 

20 For dates and synopses see below, page 162 ff . 



THE SPY 155 

name "Fawn" from the verb "to fawn," for his disguised 
Duke Hercules. There is further resemblance in the fact 
that both the "Fleire" and the "Fawn" are disguised dukes 
and spying fathers. 21 A disguised father's manipulation of 
events so as to force the marriage of his daughter and a fa- 
vored lover reminds us of Middleton's Michaelmas Term. In 
that play, as in the Fleire, the couple is brought before a 
judge. A brief summary of the Fleire may be of service to us. 
Duke Antifront disguises as "The Fleire" and takes service 
with his two daughters, who have turned prostitutes. In 
the course of a tangled love plot "The Fleire" learns that 
his daughters are planning to poison two men whom they 
had wanted to marry, but had wooed in vain. "The Fleire" 
now disguises as an apothecary and sells a sleeping potion 
instead of poison to his daughters' agents, Havelittle and 
Piso. "The Fleire" then disguises as a judge, 22 and at the 
trial of Havelittle and Piso brings out his daughters' complic- 
ity in the supposed murder. "The Fleire" was anxious to 
have his daughters marry Havelittle and Piso. It so hap- 
pens that Piso's father was the usurper of Antifront's (" The 
Fleire's") throne. Piso, Sr., dies and Piso, Jr., orders Anti- 
front restored. "The Fleire" now reveals himself as Anti- 
front and the couples are married. 

Day's Law Tricks, printed in 1608, seems reminiscent of 
the London Prodigal in one particular, and of the absent duke 
plays in general. Ferneze, Duke of Genoa, makes his ne'er- 
do-well son Polymetes deputy ruler, while he plans to go to 
Pisa to direct the search for his daughter Emilia, who has 
been kidnapped by the Turks. Meanwhile Emilia comes 

21 See Nibbe, The Fleire, 10-25. Dr. Nibbe evidently had not con- 
sulted Sampson, The Plays of Sharpham, in Studies — in Honor of J. M. 
Hart. Cf. Nibbe, 13; Sampson, 443. 

22 Observe that these three changes of costume are somewhat in 
the manner of the multi-disguise plays. See Chapter VI. 



156 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

home, and, calling herself ' Tristella," is wooed by her brother, 
who has not seen her since infancy. 23 In the course of time 
the duke enters in disguise (IV) and reports his own death 
to the son (now an old device) . Polymetes at the first word 
of the sad news joyfully proclaims himself duke and plans a 
prodigal life (somewhat like the London Prodigal). The 
disguised duke expresses his amazement in an aside to the 
audience, and says to his son, "Were your father Alive to 
note these hopeful parts in you, How would it move him and 
surprise his heart?" Polymetes merely dismisses him with 
a tip for his ''good news." Before the end of the scene the 
arrival of the duke is announced. Duke Ferneze returns 
to his own, and pretends to be gulled by his son, who poses 
as honest and dutiful. 

Day uses the spying father again in Humour Out of Breath, 
printed in 1608. In this play the duke Octavio advises his 
sons to go a-wooing, which they do with alacrity. The duke 
disguises and spies on his sons in time to catch them plight- 
ing troth to the daughters of an enemy. He undisguises 
and forbids the bans. However, before the end of the play, 
he yields, and the lovers are paired off happily. 

The six plays we have just discussed show that the father 
spying in disguise was a very popular motive during the 
brief period from 1603 to 1608. It reappears about three 
years later in the Captain, (1611-12 Thorndike, Infl., 89) by 
Beaumont and Fletcher. The father of a wanton young 
widow disguises, first as an old soldier, and afterwards in 
" brave apparel." In the latter he is seen though not recog- 
nized by his daughter, and becomes the object of her lust. 
He captures his daughter after her lewd soliciting at a ban- 
quet, and ultimately by a shrewd plot inveigles the cowardly 
gull Piso into marrying her. A daughter's tempting her dis- 

23 A similar mistaken wooing is effected through disguise in the 
Four Prentices, which appeared several years earlier. 



THE SPY 157 

guised father (a bit of tragic irony skilfully wrought by dis- 
guise) seems to be original in this play; but the denouement 
in which the father undisguises after having by strategy 
forced a lover to marry his daughter seems reminiscent of 
Michaelmas Term or of the Fleire. 

Beaumont and Fletcher used the spy also in the Scornful 
Lady (1611, Thorndike, Infl., 87). This is not a father-spy 
play, but we treat it here because of its literary relations 
with the plays under discussion. Some of the motives hark 
back to the London Prodigal. In the Scornful Lady a man 
supposedly absent returns disguised as an old sailor, reports 
his own death, receives thanks for such good news, and pre- 
sents his own will. These four points are the same as in the 
London Prodigal 2i except that one hero deals with his son, 
and the other deals with his brother. From this point for- 
ward another story is worked out. The hero, Elder Love- 
less, was supposedly exiled because of the scornful lady who 
would not listen to his love suit. In his rough sailor disguise 
Elder Loveless comes to tell her (III) that Elder Loveless 
died a victim of her cruelty. She betrays her real senti- 
ment by weeping, but immediately says she will marry a 
rival. Elder Loveless now throws off his disguise. But 
the lady declares she knew his identity all the time. The 
lady's attitude when the disguise is revealed is some- 
what like the situation in the Widow's Tears. Thus we 
see how Beaumont and Fletcher time and again recog- 
nized the theatrical values of disguise situations, and did 
not hesitate to borrow from their predecessors or fellow 
dramatists. 

Shakespeare, who borrowed almost all of his disguise situ- 
ations, introduced the spying father in the Winter's Tale. 
The royal father's spying on his son and the theatrical 

24 The relation between these two plays was suggested by Koeppel, 
Quellen, 53. 



158 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

unmasking (IV, 4) are not in Greene's novel, but such a 
situation was, as we have seen, a well-established tradition 
in the plays immediately preceding the Winter's Tale. The 
effect of Shakespeare's veiled and subtle dialog quoted 
below must have reminded the audience of many similar 
situations, where the son unknowingly revealed his heart 
secrets to a disguised father. Polixenes has just suggested 
to his son Florizel that he should take counsel with his 
father concerning his proposed marriage to Perdita, when 
the following ironical dialog takes place: 

"Flo. I yield all this; 

But for some other reasons, my grave sir, 

Which 'tis not fit you know, I not acquaint 

My father of this business. 
Pol. Let him know 't. 
Flo. He shall not. 
Pol. Prithee, let him. 
Flo. No, he must not. 
Shep. Let him, my son: he shall not need to grieve 

At knowing of thy choice. 
Flo. Come, come, he must not. 

Mark our contract. 
Pol. Mark your divorce, young sir." 

(Discovering himself.) 

The addition of disguise to an old plot is, as we have often 
remarked, a tribute to the practical value of disguise as a 
dramatic device. Shakespeare paid this tribute not only in 
the Winter's Tale but also in King Lear, which had been 
played a few years earlier. The familiar figure of Kent in 
disguise, serving and protecting his helpless king, has obvious 
dramatic kinship with the motive of a father in disguise, 
serving and protecting his child. It is significant that the 
Kent disguise is not to be found in Shakespeare's immediate 
sources. Perillus in the old Chronicle History of King Leir 



THE SPY 159 

becomes the faithful companion of the king. But Perillus 
is not in disguise, and, although at first unrecognized, he is 
afterwards continually addressed by name. Possibly Shake- 
speare got a hint from an anonymous comedy Timon (1600), 
where the hero is attended by a faithful servant in disguise. 
But, whether Shakespeare owes anything to Timon or not, 
it is clear that the Kent disguise bears a strong family 
resemblance to the spying father who serves and protects 
his child. Shakespeare, like the other master playwrights, 
did not hesitate to adopt good situations that were popular 
favorites, but, unlike many of them, he usually bettered what 
he borrowed. He tinges this situation with pathos by mak- 
ing the banished Kent remain in disguise to serve his king 
unrecognized to the end. 25 It is a maximum dramatic effect 
with a minimum of complication. 

Thus we have seen that the London Prodigal is of consider- 
able importance as a disguise play, since it inspired to a 
greater or less degree the disguise situations in II Honest 
Whore, Michaelmas Term, the Fleire, Law Tricks, Humour 
Out of Breath, the Captain, the Scornful Lady, the Winter's 
Tale, and King Lear. It also may have been remembered 
by Jonson in the Staple of News (1625), where a disguised 
father, after having reported his own death, spies on his 
spendthrift son. 26 But it is not our purpose at present to 
trace out any disguise tradition beyond our arbitrary stop- 
ping place of 1616. We have analyzed enough plays to show 
how the spy in disguise became conventional dramatic 

25 Lamb, however, in Table-Talk, by the late Elia, interpreted the 
scene poetically as of "the old dying king partially catching at the 
truth, and immediately lapsing into obliviousness." For Lamb's 
appreciative estimate of the character of Kent see On the Genius and 
Character of Hogarth. 

26 Compare also Shirley's Royal Master (1638), where a disguised 
father spies on his son. 



160 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

material. The dramaturgic function of this disguise (to 
conceal the intrigant of the plot) has been obvious, espe- 
cially in such plays as the London Prodigal. This func- 
tional use of disguise is still more interesting in the plays 
containing spying dukes, or political spies in general, a 
type of disguise which we shall discuss in the following 
paragraphs. 

in 

One of the most perfectly constructed of all the spy plays 
is Shakespeare's Measure for Measure. When we study 
Measure for Measure in the light of its predecessors we 
learn that Shakespeare, as usual, had a sharp eye for a favor- 
ite situation of the moment, but we learn also that he had 
a sure hand in weaving a telling plot. The stage effective- 
ness of the action of the disguised Duke Vincentio is 
achieved through rare dramatic economy. 

First let us glance at the ancestors of Shakespeare's duke, 
or at least at the pioneers who prepared the way for this spy. 
The playwright got the criminal and unjust judge, as well as 
a hint for the disguise, from Whetstone's Promus and Cas- 
sandra, which was printed in 1578 but never acted. In this 
play Andrugio, because of his misconduct with Polina, is 
condemned to death by Lord Promus, who rules in the 
absence of the king. Andrugio's sister, Cassandra, vainly 
sacrifices her virtue to Promus upon his promise to save the 
brother's life. Promus breaks the promise, but Andrugio, 
though supposedly executed, is saved by a jailer's trick and 
escapes to the woods. In the course of events the king 
returns, the deviltry of Promus is exposed, and he is sen- 
tenced to death. Rumor of this reaches Andrugio in the 
forest, and he returns to the court "disguised in some long 
blacke Cloake." After two or three days of observation he 
appears in his own character in time to save Promus from 



THE SPY 161 

execution. 27 The absent king has almost no dramatic 
value in this play. He is not a disguised intrigant like 
Shakespeare's Duke Vincentio. Yet the absence of the 
king and the disguise of Andrugio doubtless united to 
inspire the disguised duke of Measure for Measure. 

Perhaps it is fair to assume that Shakespeare owed some- 
thing in general to all cases where royalty disguised for the 
purpose of political spying. 28 The device of a king in dis- 
guise roaming through his realm is familiar in all literatures, 
and this literary motive is doubtless based on many his- 
torical facts. The earliest use in English drama, 29 so far 
as we can discover, is in Fair Em (1590), where a king dis- 
guises himself and goes off on a wooing expedition. The 
anonymous comedy A Knack to Know a Knave (1592), pre- 
sents a king and two courtiers who disguise themselves and 
with the assistance of "Honesty" inveigle "Coney catcher" 
into false swearing, thus spying out one of the knaves in the 
land. This play perhaps dimly foreshadows Jonson's Bar- 
tholomew Fair. In George a Greene, the Pinner of Wakefield 
(mentioned by Henslowe in 1593), the spy motive is used 
incidentally (V, 1) but with much comic irony and theat- 
rical effect. King Edward and King James disguise them- 

27 In Cinthio, Heccatommithi, VIII, 5, which was Whetstone's 
source, this disguise could not have been used, for Andrugio's proto- 
type was actually killed. 

The somewhat melodramatic ending of Whetstone's play is paral- 
leled in A Knack to Know an Honest Man (1595), where Sempronio, 
supposedly slain by Lelio, goes off in disguise, but returns and reveals 
himself just in time to save Lelio from execution. 

28 Note that in Shakespeare's Henry V (1599) the King goes unrec- 
ognized among his soldiers, not because he is disguised, but because he 
is without royal insignia, like a "common man." 

29 In the English metrical romance of Sir Orpheo the hero, disguised 
as a minstrel, spies briefly on his steward who has been in charge of 
the household during the hero's absence. 



162 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

selves as yeomen in order to observe the exploits of George 
a Greene. At Bradford the kings are forced to vail their 
staves or fight the shoemakers. George a Greene and Robin 
Hood, also disguised, come along and, calling the kings "base 
minded peasants," fight a valiant bout with the shoemakers. 
Presently all identities are revealed, and the kings praise the 
heroes and pardon the rudeness of the shoemakers, con- 
firming their pardon by dubbing their trade forever after 
"the gentle craft." 30 Armin's Valiant Welshman (1595) pre- 
sents incidentally the hero disguised as a common soldier spy- 
ing on his enemy. In I Sir John Oldcastle (1598) Henry V 
disguises himself and starts for Westminster. While waiting 
for a boat he is robbed by Sir John, a parson, who does not 
recognize him. Later in a dice game with Sir John, the king 
regains his gold and reveals himself. In Samuel Rowley's 
When You See Me You Know Me (1603, Bayne, 371) Henry 
VIII disguises himself and goes out at night to spy on the 
London watches, constables, and criminals. The king gets 
into a fight with the notorious Black Will, and is jailed. 
Black Will adds insult to injury by taunting the king with 
comments on his poor fencing. After the king has heard 
various tales of abuse from prisoners, his identity is revealed. 
Black Will now changes front, but is doomed to stay in prison 
until his services may be used in some battle. 

All these plays helped to make political spying in disguise 
familiar to playgoers. Let us now turn to more tangible 
and definite literary influences on Shakespeare. He is clearly 
indebted to Marston's Malcontent for the general effect and 
some details in Measure for Measure. The Malcontent was 

30 The writer of the Pinner has taken over the disguises from the 
prose romance by the same title as the play. Compare Heywood's 
/ Edward IV (1594), where the king in disguise learns from Hobs, the 
tanner, that he is respected by his subjects, and gets Hob's opinions on 
affairs of government. 



THE SPY 163 

produced in 1601. 31 It was printed in 1604, the year when 
Measure for Measure was acted at Whitehall (Ward, II, 153). 
In connection with these two plays we must consider Mars- 
ton's Parasitaster, or the Fawn, which was printed in 1606, 
but had been acted in 1604 according to Fleay (Biog. Chron., 
II, 79). The Fawn has been spoken of as being a rival of, 
or partly influenced by, Shakespeare's Measure for Measure. 32 
We cannot, of course, presume to settle the question of 
general relations here. But with respect to the disguise 
plot it is significant that the motives which the Fawn and 
Measure for Measure have in common may be found earlier 
in the Malcontent; and that much of the other dramatic 
material in Measure for Measure was first used by Marston. 
The evidence which we are about to present tends to show 
that Shakespeare was influenced by Marston, instead of 
Marston by Shakespeare, as Fleay and Koeppel would 
have it. As we glance at the plots of these plays let us 
keep in mind the relative theatrical effectiveness of the dis- 
guise situations. The synopses of the plots follow: 

The Malcontent M 

"Malevole," living at the court of Pietro, tells the audi- 
ence in a soliloquy that he is Altofronte, the real Duke of 
Genoa, whose throne has been usurped by Pietro. ''Male- 
vole" tortures his enemy Pietro by accusing him of having 

31 See Stoll, 55-60; also see Fleay, Biog. Chron., II, 78. 

32 Fleay, Biog. Chron., II, 79: "The whole plot reminds us of Meas- 
ure for Measure, which this play was meant to rival." 

Koeppel, Quellen, 28: "Es ist wohl moglich, dass Marston diesen an 
und fur sich ganzlich uberflussigen, verkleideten Herzog und den Ge- 
danken der abschliessenden Gerichtsitzung dem Shakespeare-drama 
"Measure for Measure" entlehnt hat." 

33 Koeppel, Quellen, (1895) had not found a source for the Malcon- 
tent. I observe that one situation is like the husband-confessor motive 
in Edward I, namely act IV, scene 2, where Pietro tests his wife by 
confessing her while he is disguised as a hermit. Compare also "Male- 



164 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

been cuckolded by Mendoza. He further injures Pietro by 
assisting in a love intrigue involving the latter's wife. The 
sly Mendoza, who has been made heir of Pietro, now begs 
"Malevole" to help him by murdering Pietro. Further, 
Mendoza tells "Malevole" that he wants "to marry Maria, 
the banished Duke Altofront's wife" (III, 1). "Malevole" 
discloses the murder plot to Pietro, and disguises him in 
a hermit's gown. Later they report to Mendoza, when 
Pietro eloquently describes his own death, and "Malevole" 
"confesses" to have killed Pietro! Mendoza now declares 
himself Duke; instructs the "hermit" (Pietro) to poison 
"Malevole" and "Malevole" to poison the "hermit"; and 
finally sends "Malevole" as pander to Maria ("Malevole's" 
wife). Meanwhile, the Duke of Florence, having been in- 
formed of the corruption in Genoa, declares that the Duchess 
(his daughter) must die; that Duke Pietro must be banished, 
and Duke Altofront ("Malevole") be re-accepted. Pietro 
promises to restore the dukedom to Altofront, when "Male- 
vole" undisguises and proves to be Altofront. Altofront as 
"Malevole" again tests the faithfulness of his own wife by 
wooing her for Mendoza. Later Mendoza attempts to poi- 
son "Malevole," who feigns death. A masque is given in 
which "Malevole," Pietro, and others are presented as 
Genoan Dukes. "Malevole" unmasks and unceremoniously 
dismisses Mendoza. He pardons Pietro on condition that 
he take vows of repentance. 

Measure for Measure 

Duke Vincentio, making Angelo his deputy ruler, pretends 
to go away, but actually remains at court disguised as a 
friar. Claudio, who has been arrested for getting Julietta 
with child, begs his sister Isabella to intercede with Angelo. 

vole's" trial of his wife in act V, scene 2. A disguised husband as 
pander to his wife occurs in Zelotypus. See above, page 143. 



THE SPY 165 

She does so with the result that Angelo falls in love with her, 
and offers to free the brother at the price of Isabella's virtue. 
She refuses, but Claudio begs his sister to yield. A certain 
"Friar" proposes a stratagem by means of which Isabella 
is to make an assignation with Angelo and then substitute 
Mariana, Angelo's betrothed, for herself. This plan is car- 
ried out and Angelo enjoys Isabella, as he thinks. But he 
breaks faith by ordering his provost to send him Claudio's 
head. Now the "Friar" perverts this sentence by pre- 
senting an order from the Duke (himself), to substitute the 
head of some one else. The "Friar" now amuses himself by 
telling Isabella that her brother has been executed. Inci- 
dentally he engages in conversation with Lucio, who declares 
that he "can tell pretty tales of the Duke." The Duke, 
resuming his own character, now pretends to have just re- 
turned to court and ironically expresses his trust in Angelo. 
Isabella makes her charges against Angelo. The Duke pre- 
tends to scout them, but asks Isabella for some witness who 
was in her confidence. She refers to the "Friar." Incident- 
ally Lucio tells the Duke that the "Friar" "slandered His 
Grace," — a gratuitous fib. The Duke disguises as "Friar" 
again. Lucio now accuses the "Friar" of having slandered 
the duke. The "Friar" declares Lucio did the slandering, 
which was true. Angelo is about to arrest the "Friar" at 
Lucio 's behest, when he undisguises and proves to be Duke 
Vincentio. The duke compels Angelo to marry Mariana, 
and then sentences him to death. Finally he pardons him 
in response to the prayers of Mariana and Isabella. Claudio 
is ordered to marry Julietta. The Duke asks Isabella to 
marry him. 

The Fawn 

Hercules, Duke of Ferrara, wants his son Tiberio to marry 
Dulcimel, daughter of Gonzago. When Tiberio refuses to 



166 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

do this, Hercules decides to marry Dulcimel himself, and 
sends Tiberio as a wooer by proxy. Hercules then disguises 
as "Faunus" and goes to Gonzago's court, where under 
cover of disguise he observes matters develop so that Tiberio 
finally does fall in love with Dulcimel. Hercules uses his 
disguise also in order to spy on roguery in Gonzago's realm. 
At the end of the play in the Masque of Cupid, "Faunus" 
sentences a number of "humourous" gulls to the ship of 
fools. Among them is Gonzago, who tried to cross love, 
but really became the unconscious go-between for Dulcimel 
and Tiberio. The bride and groom enter, and Hercules 
("Faunus") "enters in his own shape" to welcome them to 
Ferrara. 

Let us now compare these three plays with respect to their 
interdependence, their dramaturgy, and their theatrical 
effectiveness. The basic motive which these plays have in 
common is that a duke in disguise spies on crime or roguery. 
In the Malcontent and Measure for Measure he pretends to 
go away but remains as a spy at his own court. The motive 
of a ruler temporarily abdicating to a bad deputy had been 
used in the tragedy Cambises (1570) as well as in Shake- 
speare's immediate source Promus and Cassandra (1578), but 
neither of these plays has a ruler actually remaining in dis- 
guise to spy at his own court. Shakespeare, therefore, may 
have borrowed the duke supposedly absent but really 
present in disguise, from Marston's Malcontent. With 
regard to the initial disguise situation it is perfectly 
clear that if the Fawn was inspired by Measure for 
Measure, Measure for Measure was first inspired by the 
Malcontent. Hence it seems likely that Marston in the 
Fawn borrowed from himself directly rather than from 
Shakespeare. 

Shakespeare's duke shifts out of his disguise and back 
again. This was an effective device used by Marston in 



THE SPY 167 

the Malcontent.* 4 And as far as the final scene is concerned 
we find a number of resemblances between Measure for 
Measure and the Malcontent. Shakespeare's deputy and 
Marston's usurper are both forgiven by the dukes, and 
wished happiness together with their wives. Each duke 
deals unmercifully with one villainous character. Each 
duke compliments a friend and an officer. And each duke 
is still sentimental enough to take a woman to his heart. 
So far, then, Shakespeare seems indebted to Marston. 

Koeppel suggested, as we have seen above, that Marston 
owed his Masque of Cupid in the Fawn to the last scene 
in Measure for Measure. Let us see if there is anything in 
the resemblances of the two scenes which would determine 
chronology. 

The last scene in the Fawn is a mock judgment. Cupid 
sits as a judge, surrounded by Drunkenness, Folly, and six 
other abstractions. "Faunus" has drawn up a number of 
acts and statutes in elaborate legal jargon, and pleads his 
complaints before Judge Cupid, who sentences the "humour- 
ous" courtiers to the ship of fools. One is sentenced because 
of a "plurality of mistresses"; a second is acquitted of the 
charge of "counterfeiting Cupid's royal coin"; a third is 
pardoned for slandering his wife; a fourth is sentenced for 
being a "mummer"; and a fifth is sentenced for trying to 
"make frustrate" the sweet pleasure of love. 

How much does all this resemble Measure for Measure? In 
a brief section of only two hundred lines the duke compels 
Angelo to marry Mariana. He then condemns him to death, 
but later pardons him; Claudius is commanded to marry 
the woman he wronged, and Lucio is sentenced to marry a 
"punk," after which he is to be whipped and hanged. 
Escalus is thanked for his goodness. The Provost is first 

34 The device of shifting goes back at least as far as Roman comedy. 
See Chapter III, page 37. 



168 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

discharged and afterwards promoted. And Isabella is chosen 
to become the duke's wife. 

From this comparison there surely can be no inference 
that anything in the Masque of Cupid either borrows or 
burlesques any incident in the final scene of Measure for 
Measure. And consequently this internal evidence (or lack 
of it) does not convince us that Marston's scene was in- 
spired by Shakespeare's. We can only repeat what we have 
already remarked, namely, that Shakespeare seems, on the 
whole, rather to be indebted to Marston. 

As a pure piece of technic Measure for Measure is clearly 
superior to its predecessors and rivals. Marston's dukes 
spy on their courts with cynical and even vile comment and 
action; but they do not utilize their disguise to any great 
extent to shape events in the plays. In the Malcontent the 
restoration of the duchy is brought about by the arch vil- 
lainy of Mendoza, and not by any cleverness of "Malevole." 
In the Fawn Dulcimel's hinting accusations and her father's 
folly unite to bring about her marriage to Tiberio. This 
marriage is what "Faunus" desired, but he does not employ 
his disguise to accomplish the result. But in Measure for 
Measure the duke is more than a spy. He is himself the 
manager of the whole plot. He initiates, directs, and re- 
solves the entire action. And his disguise serves him in his 
double purpose of spying on scoundrels, and of bringing 
tragic complications to a happy resolution. 

The theatrical possibilities of the disguised spy were real- 
ized more fully by Shakespeare than by Marston. In turn- 
ing his duke into a counterfeit friar Shakespeare was utilizing 
a disguise costume that had long been popular in English 
drama. 35 Besides it was eminently fitting that a friar have 

36 By 1604, the friar, or the hermit, disguise had been used in 
Magnificence, Satire of the Three Estates, Dr. Faustus, Mucedorus, Ed- 



THE SPY 169 

free access to prisoners, and advise maidens in distress. The 
duke realized the necessity of mimetic dissimulation and 
bade Friar Thomas instruct him how he might " formally 
in person bear Like a true Friar." Costume, as well as 
action, were distinctive in the case of Duke Vincentio. 
Just how distinctive the costume was in the case of a mal- 
content or a fawner it is hard to tell. 

In handling disguise Marston does not always show a keen 
sense of values in stage business. For example, at the end 
of act IV of the Malcontent "Malevole" " undisguiseth him- 
self" in the presence of the usurper. This stage effect is 
repeated at the end of the play, where "Malevole" unmasks 
and spreads terror among the villains. A sudden revelation 
at the end of a play is as ancient as JEschylus. But Marston 
discounts its effectiveness in this play by giving it twice — 
the first time in act IV. In the Fawn the undisguising is 
off the stage. Contrast this with Shakespeare's method. 
In act V, scene 1 of Measure for Measure the duke enters 
the city in his own habit, giving no suspicion that he had 
been the "Friar." With comic irony he listens to the com- 
plaints of his subjects, and expresses complete confidence in 
Angelo. He even hears complaints about the "Friar," who 
is presumably near at hand. The duke retires and presently 
the "Friar" enters. In an altercation which ensues Lucio 
calls the "Friar" a "bald pated lying rascall" and, pulling 
off the friar's hood, discovers the duke. 36 

ward I, Look About You, Merry Devil of Edmonton, Malcontent, Fair 
Maid of Bristow, and I Honest Whore. 

The friar disguise was ridiculed in May Day as having been worn 
"threadbare on every stage." May Day possibly preceded Measure 
for Measure. See Chapter IV, page 87. 

36 A brief but interesting spying situation occurs in 77 Henry IV 
(II, 4), where Prince Hal and Poins, disguised as drawers, hear them- 
selves denounced to Doll Tearsheet by Falstaff. Compare also the 



170 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

Veiled allusions in the disguise dialog are plentiful in 
all three of the plays under discussion. 37 A quotation from 
Measure for Measure may suffice to illustrate. 

"Lucio By my troth, Isabel, I lov'd thy brother; 

if the old fantastical duke of dark corners had 

been at home, he had lived. 
Duke, (as Friar) Sir, the duke is marvellous little 

beholding to your reports; but the best is, he 

lives not in them. 
Lucio. Friar, thou knowest not the duke so well as 

I do: he's a better woodman than thou takest him 

for. 
Duke. Well, you'll answer this one day. Fare ye well. 
Lucio. Nay, tarry; I'll go along with thee: I can 

tell thee pretty tales of the duke. 
Duke. You have told me too many of him already, sir, 

if they be true." 

In conclusion we may say that Measure for Measure, 
though imitative in plot, was, because of its compactness, 
the integral relation between its disguise and the dramatic 
complications, the subtlety of the disguise dialog, and the 
theatricality of its action a better play than its predecessors 
or contemporaries of the same type. 

In connection with Measure for Measure and Marston's 
two plays let us recall the plot of Middleton's Phoenix, z% 
which bears some resemblance to all three. The Phcenix 
was printed in 1607, but the date of composition was prob- 
ably several years earlier. The dates cannot be settled at 

incidental spying which results from the disguise of Barabas in the 
Jew of Malta (IV, 6). 

37 Veiled allusions in Measure for Measure are found in III, 1 ; III, 
2; IV, 2; IV, 3; V, 1. 

38 It has been thought that the Phoenix is founded on the Force of 
Love, a Spanish novel. But K. Christ (Quellen, 105) says: "Es ist mir 
nicht gelungen, eine novelle dieses Titels in der spanischen Literatur 
zu finden." 



THE SPY 171 

present, but the presumption is that the Malcontent pre- 
ceded the Phoenix. The plot is somewhat loose, but presents 
in general Prince Phoenix's discovery of corruption while 
he travels in disguise in his father's duchy. This theme we 
shall see later in Jonson's Bartholomew Fair. 

Jealous courtiers prevail on the Duke of Ferrara 39 to send 
his son Phoenix away to travel. Phoenix, pretending to go, 
really remains at home in disguise. First, Phoenix exposes 
Tangle, who is a past master in the art of perverting justice 
by shrewd law tricks. Next he catches and punishes a mer- 
cenary sea captain who has sold his wife. Then he discovers 
the crookedness of Justice Falso, who maintains a pack 
of thieves as servants. Next he becomes the confidant of 
Proditor, who plots with his new friend the downfall of 
Prince Phoenix! He accidentally rings a doorbell and is 
pulled into a farcical dark scene with the Jeweller's wife, 
who converses with him at length, mistaking him all the time 
for her paramour, the Knight. 

Finally, Phoenix is hired to assassinate Duke Ferrara and 
Prince Phoenix. He and the arch plotter, Proditor, are 
present for this purpose in the court scene. A servant 
announces that Prince Phoenix has returned and is about 
to enter. The servant presents a document from the Prince 
which contains specific charges against the traitor (Proditor), 
the gamblers (Lussurioso and Infesto), and the nefarious 
Justice Falso. Charges are brought orally against the 
Jeweller's wife. Suddenly Phoenix undisguises and pardons 
all except Proditor, who is banished. 

It should be noticed that the general structure in this 
denouement is like the Malcontent and Measure for Measure. 
The announced return of the hero, his presence in disguise, 

39 Slight resemblances between the Phoenix and the Fawn are that 
the duke in each play is the Duke of Ferrara, and that the spying heroes 
occasionally break into verse soliloquies over their discoveries. 



172 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

his judgment and pardon of all except one man — these 
motives are alike in the three plays. It is interesting to 
see how in a brief period, say from 1601 to 1604, the disguised 
spy was used as the basic element in four plays so important 
as the Malcontent, the Fawn, Measure for Measure, and the 
Phoenix. 

Another play of Middleton's in which the detection of 
roguery is facilitated by disguise is Your Five Gallants (1607). 
The plot is said to be original (Christ, Quellen, 106), which 
may be true of particular situations, but is not true of the 
main theme of a disguised spy seeking out rogues. Further- 
more, the plot, which is dominated by the spy, is resolved 
through a masque in which specific accusations are brought 
against the offenders. A masque denouement contrived by 
a disguised spy had been employed in Marston's Malcontent, 
and a similar masque with definite revelation of roguery was 
given at the end of the Fawn. This comparison of the 
Phoenix and Your Five Gallants with Marston's two plays 
makes it apparent that for the construction of spy plays 
Middleton had been studying the success of Marston. In 
employing these masque revelations 40 with a variety of 
spectacular costumes and properties together with sensa- 
tional and brisk stage business, both playwrights showed a 
fondness for the "grand finale" which is still familiar in 
certain theaters. 

When a motive has become so thoroughly familiar and 
conventionalized as the disguised spy it is not surprising to 

40 A cruder form of masque denouement had been used by Marston 
in Antonio's Revenge, where Antonio and companions are able to kill 
Piero while pretending to be masquers at his wedding. A much earlier 
masque scene with a similar purpose, though not a denouement, occurs 
in act IV of the Tragedy of Richard II, where King Richard and com- 
panions, disguised like Diana's knights in a masque, capture Wood- 
stock, Duke of Gloucester. See also the masque denouement in the 
Revenger's Tragedy (printed 1607). 



THE SPY 173 

find even the proverbially independent Jonson adopting it as 
the main element of a comedy plot. 41 His Bartholomew 
Fair (1614) has not hitherto been spoken of as dependent 
on earlier plays. Ward (II, 370), for example, calls it "Abso- 
lutely original, so far as is known, in both conception and 
construction." Koeppelsays: (Quellen, 14) "Weder fur die 
ganze Handlung, noch fur einzelne Scenen dieses Stiickes 
lassen sich literarische Beeinflussungen nachweisen." 

Now in the light of our account of the disguised spy it 
seems pretty obvious that Jonson was not "absolutely 
original," and that literary influences are not far to seek. 
The chief ingredient in Jonson's play is, of course, the 
Fair, with its "humour" characters. But as far as plot 
goes, an important, if not the main interest is Justice Over- 
do's determination to spy out "enormities," his humiliation 
because of his disguise, and his final revelation and specific 
accusation of the rogues. 

In a broad sense Justice Overdo has predecessors in all the 
spies we have discussed in this chapter; for they assumed 
their disguise purposely to search out villainy. But if we 
limit the motive to the man of high authority who spies 
on petty roguery in his own community, we find predecessors 
in A Knack to Know a Knave, where a king in disguise looking 
for knavery catches a perjurer; in I Sir John Oldcastle, 
where the king traps a thieving parson; in Samuel Rowley's 
When You See Me You Know Me, where the king spies on 
corrupt watches and constables, and other unworthy citi- 
zens; in Middleton's Phoenix, where a prince discovers a 
tricky lawyer who abuses his knowledge of the law, and a 
corrupt judge who maintains a pack of thieves; and in the 

41 In Volpone (1606) Volpone, after having given out the report 
that he is dead, haunts the house disguised as a commandadore and 
taunts the sycophants. But the disguise is assumed for the sake of 
gloating over, rather than spying upon, them. 



174 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

same author's Your Five Gallants, where a gentleman in 
disguise discovers cheating, theft, and bawdry. Thus we see 
that in the general purpose and method of the disguised 
spying, Jonson was by no means original. 

We have already indicated Middleton's probable indebted- 
ness to Marston for the general plan of his denouements in 
the two plays just mentioned. Now let us in turn note the 
similarity between the denouements of Your Five Gallants 
and of Bartholomew Fair. Fitzgrave, after rounding up the 
rogues, discovers himself and says: 

'"Twas I framed your device, do you see? 'twas I! 
The whole assembly has took notice of it. 
That you are a gallant cheater, 

So much the pawning of my cloak contains; (to Goldstone) 
You a base thief, think of Combe Park (to Pursenet) and tell me 
That you're a hir6d smockster (to Tailby) ; here's her letter, 
In which we are certified that you're a bawd, (to Primero) " 

Justice Overdo, after revealing his identity, proceeds very 
much in the same fashion in act V, scene 6. 

" .... stand forth you weedes of enormity, and spread. (To 
Busy) First, Rabbi Busy, thou superlunaticall hypocrite, (To Lantern) 
next, thou other extremity, thou prophane professor of Puppetry, little 
better than Poetry: (To the horse courser, and Cutpurse) then thou 
strong Debaucher, and Seducer of youth; witnesse this easie and honest 
young man; (Then Cap. Whit,) now thou Esquire of Dames, Madams, 
and twelue-penny Ladies: (and Mistresse Littlewit) now my greene 
Madame her selfe, of the price. Let mee vnmasque your Ladiship." 

This comparison shows that Jonson was presenting an 
old spying situation, namely, the sudden revelation of dis- 
guise with an alignment and specific accusation of the rogues 
who had been spied upon. 42 It shows that he was not " ab- 

42 The alignment of rogues without the use of disguise is a feature 
of some of Jonson's earlier plays, as Cynthia's Revels and Every Man Out 
of His Humour. As usual the addition of disguise improved the dra- 
matic effectiveness. 



THE SPY 175 

solutely original," but was to a certain extent dependent on 
Middleton and others for a good dramatic device. 

There is no intent of calling [Johnson kn imitator because of 
these parallels. His creative genius was sufficient to make 
an old thing new. He made the spy a ''humour" character, 
a man who is so zealous in his nosing into "enormities" that 
he actually sympathizes with and wants to protect a prom- 
ising young pickpocket. The justice is mistaken for a rogue 
and put into the stocks, a theatrical bit of comic irony. He 
hears his own name constantly harped on by the mad 
Trouble-all. He finds that he can have his choice of two 
"greene" madames for a shilling, and he speaks more truth 
than he suspects when he says " This will proue my chief est 
enormity," for one of them turns out to be his wife! All 
of these situations have dramatic values which compen- 
sate fully for any lack of dramatic novelty, and reveal 
Jonson as a skilful playwright. 

With this we shall close the study of spy plays. In the 
notes we have frequently alluded to plays which come after 
1616, but our purpose in this chapter has been to show by 
an examination of thirty or more plays how the spy disguise 
became a dramatic tradition in England during the early 
years of the seventeenth century. Our division of these 
plays into three groups has been for purposes of conven- 
ience, but it must be remembered that, from the technical 
point of view, all disguised spies are alike, whether they 
are spying upon wife, child, or subject. Dramatically each 
served, as it were, to advertise the other until spying in dis- 
guise became a well established tradition. 

The study of the spy motive, as of all disguise, has a ten- 
dency to fix our attention on the physical, momentary, 
theatrical values of certain dramatic situations. There were 
repetitions, variations, and conventionalizing. The little 
writers borrowed from the big, and the big from each other. 



176 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

And we have seen in this chapter that the playwrights, all 
the way from the forgotten ones up to Jonson and Shake- 
speare, drew on their predecessors, not necessarily because of 
poverty-stricken imagination, but because of shrewd recog- 
nition of theatrical success. 



CHAPTER VIII 
THE LOVER IN DISGUISE 

O, sir, know that vnder simple weeds 
The gods have maskt. 

— Greene's Orlando Furioso 



The use of disguise in love affairs is a practice approved 
by Jupiter himself. The device is especially convenient in 
the drama of intrigue; secret love needs disguise. A lady 
may be strongly guarded by parent or husband, but the 
lover overcomes such obstacles by sheer ingenuity. If he 
cannot reach his lady's chamber in his own shape, he may 
do so in the assumed identity of her maid, her physician, her 
spiritual adviser, or even in the character of the husband 
himself. But the presence of a disguised lover in a play 
does not always imply an amour. In situations of romantic 
love the wooer often appears in disguise. In some English 
plays such disguises may be relics of vulgar intrigues which 
have been idealized. In certain other plays disguise is used 
because it gives a peculiarly romantic turn; as, for example, 
when a lady is wooed and won by a man in lowly station 
only to learn that he is a prince in disguise. In some plays, 
Love's Labor's Lost, for example, the disguises are not tech- 
nically of great value to the plot; but they add a certain 
theatrical glamor. They are conceived in the spirit of the 
masque dominant in the courtly life of the period. 

The chief tributaries of the current of disguised lovers in 
Renaissance drama are Roman comedy and Italian novelle. 
One would expect to find the motive also in French fabliaux, 

177 



178 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

but the influence from that source, if any, is slight. An 
example of novella influence may be seen in Parabosco's 
Viluppo (1547), where the servant Viluppo gets clothes 
from his associate Negromante and, thus disguised, has an 
amour with Negromante's wife. This situation, which 
Parabosco used again in VHermafrodit, is borrowed from the 
fiftieth novel of Bandello. 1 Boccaccio's disguised lovers 2 
have no important bearing on English drama. Salernitano 
in the twelfth novel of his Novellino (1476) introduced a 
lover disguised as a woman, a device which afterwards had 
a long career in the drama. 

We shall consider in this chapter: first, the Supposes and 
the shrew plays; second, the impersonating lover in the 
Amphitruo school of comedy; third, the lover disguised as 
girl; fourth, the disguised lover tricked; and fifth, the roman- 
tic situation of the noble lover in lowly disguise. 

The earliest use of a disguised lover in English drama is 
in Gascoigne's Supposes (1566), a play which was drawn 
upon for the underplot in the Taming of A Shrew and Shake- 
speare's Taming of The Shrew. Gascoigne's play is an adap- 
tation of Ariosto's Suppositi, and Ariosto was himself partly 
indebted to earlier drama. His play contains one motive 
which goes back at least as far as the Frogs of Aristophanes, 
and two which have good analogies in Plautus's Amphitruo 
and Terence's Eunuchus. The lover posing as servant, the 
master and servant exchanging roles, and the comic conflict 
when an impostor in disguise attempts to outface the man 
he is impersonating — these are old traditions in drama. It 
is curious how often the disguised lover and the doubles 
situation are combined. The association of these two mo- 
tives necessitates an inclusive discussion in the first part of 
this chapter. 

1 See Creizenach, II, 334. 

2 See the Decameron, III, 7, and IV, 2. 



THE LOVER 179 

First, let us relate the plot of the Supposes. Erostrato, 
a nobleman, carries on an amour with Polynesta for two 
years, being disguised during the time as the servant of her 
father. Meanwhile, the nobleman's servant Dulipo has been 
masquerading as the nobleman. A complication arises when 
a rich doctor of laws seems about to secure the parental con- 
sent to marry Polynesta. In order to offset this, the servant 
Dulipo, posing as the nobleman, is instructed to act in the 
capacity of a rival suitor. But he must have a father to 
offer a dower; hence they induce a stranger to pose as the 
nobleman's father. We now have three wooers — the hero 
posing as a servant, his servant posing as the hero (together 
with a bogus father), and the rich doctor of laws. Presently 
Polynesta's father learns of her affair and jails the nobleman- 
servant. Philogano, the real father of the nobleman, arrives 
but is denounced as an impostor by the servant and by the 
false Philogano. Dulipo, the servant disguised as nobleman, 
is recognized by Philogano, but Dulipo insists that he really 
is the nobleman, and that Philogano is an impostor. Finally 
the doctor of laws identifies Dulipo as his own son. Poly- 
nesta's father learns that his daughter's partner is a noble- 
man and an acceptable husband. The real Philogano proves 
his identity and all ends happily. 

The Supposes, although a popular play, is weak in stage 
values because most of the plot is narrated. The hero and 
heroine never appear on the stage together until the last 
scene, and in that scene he speaks two words, and she, none! 
The servant, disguised as master, poses as the wooer of his 
master's lady, but he never has a scene with her nor with 
her father. The value of the plot is in the incidents nar- 
rated, rather than in the situations represented. There is 
no scope for sentiment, character delineation, or charming 
dialog. Let us see how the Italian love plot was developed 
through A Shrew into The Shrew. 



180 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

The underplot of the Taming of A Shrew (1588) is in many 
respects less dramatic than the Supposes. For example, 
there are no rival lovers to whet our interest. The play is 
not so convincing either. Aurelius, a nobleman in love with 
Philema, disguises himself as the son of a rich merchant; 
but there seems to be no reason for his assuming such a dis- 
guise. There seems to be no reason why the servant should 
pose as the master. These elements are disintegrated relics 
of the earlier plot. Despite such dramaturgic defects the 
play has many merits. It illustrates the tendency of some 
Elizabethans to chasten realistic situations. The vulgar in- 
trigue is turned into a romantic situation of pure sentimental 
love. The wooers and their ladies are given poetic dialog in 
two scenes (II, 1, and III, 6). A new motive is the music 
teacher and his lute lesson. 3 The servant Valeria assumes 
this disguise and attempts to teach Kate, in order that her 
younger sisters may have freedom to meet their wooers. 
The lute and the music teacher disguise was borrowed and 
employed to better purpose in The Shrew. We must not 
forget, in criticising A Shrew, that the author deserves much 
credit for combining the three plots — the Sly plot, the 
disguise plot, and the shrew plot — thus furnishing the 
source of Shakespeare's play. 4 

When we examine the Taming of The Shrew we find that 
it improves on A Shrew by raising the love situations into a 
still higher sphere of charming sentiment. Yet The Shrew 
is by no means an airy poem. It has theatrical effective- 
ness obtained through careful dramatic economy. The main 
situations of the underplot are Bianca and her four wooers, 

3 Compare Moliere's Malade Imaginaire, where the lover Cleante 
poses as a music master. See also Lope de Vega's Maestro de Danzar, 
Calderon's Maestro de Danzar, and Wycherly's Gentleman Dancing- 
Master. 

4 Boas, A Shrew, xxv. 



THE LOVER 181 

and the amusing play between the counterfeit and the real 
father of one of the wooers. It will be remembered that 
the wooers are: Lucentio, disguised as schoolmaster; his 
servant Tranio disguised as Lucentio; Hortensio, disguised 
as a music teacher, and Gremio, who makes the mistake of 
employing Lucentio-schoolmaster as his proxy. After much 
comedy Lucentio explains to the heroine's father that he 
has just wedded his daughter "While counterfeit supposes 
bleer'd thine eine." 

Let us see how Shakespeare has used the lover disguises 
of his source. In A Shrew the disguise of the lover is un- 
motivated, and the servant as master of the lute has only 
the value of buffoonery. When we turn to The Shrew we 
find that the lover Lucentio avails himself of the tutor's 
gown to cloak his wooing of Bianca, and disguises his words 
of love under the shape of a Latin lesson. 5 But we find 
also that the buffoonery of the music teacher is preserved. 
This disguise is given to Hortensio, another of Bianca's 
suitors, and it serves, not only to introduce the horse-play of 
the lute, and the situation of a disguised rival, but to give 
comic irony. Hortensio comes to woo, but unwittingly gets 
himself into humiliating difficulties which he had not foreseen. 
Lucentio's Latin lesson and Hortensio's music lesson furnish 
ample opportunity for facial expression, gesture, and stage 
business. Thus in The Shrew both disguise motives count 
with the fullest theatrical value. 

The most significant thing, however, about the lover situ- 
ations in the Supposes, A Shrew, and The Shrew is, not the 
difference in dramaturgic values, but the fact that an Italian 
intrigue was shaped by English writers into a romantic wooing, 
thus gaining in charm, and incidentally gaining in dramatic 
value. 

B A lover disguised as private tutor appears in Lope de Vega's 
Domine Lucas. 



182 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 



II 

In the plays just considered there is a situation more 
effective theatrically than that of the disguised wooing. It 
is the scene where the real father is called an impostor by a 
man impersonating him — a typical doubles situation. In 
a series of plays the disguised lover is one of the doubles. 
He actually impersonates either the husband or a favored 
lover. Usually in these plays the heroine is deceived in 
identity; and the arrival of the real subject of the imper- 
sonation produces the comedy of doubles. Plautus's Amphi- 
truo is probably the prototype of such plots. 

The earliest plot of English composition in which the 
impersonation of a lover leads to a doubles denouement is 
probably Sir Clyomon and Sir Clamydes. 6 The knightly 
lover Clamydes is betrayed by his servant into the power of 
Bryan Sans Foys, an enchanter. The enchanter charms 
Clamydes into a ten days' sleep, and takes his silver shield, 
his clothing, and the serpent's head, the trophy which 
Clamydes was to bring his lady Juliana. Thus disguised 
Bryan goes to the court, and is joyfully received by Juliana, 
who thinks he is Clamydes and prepares for their nuptials. 
Soon the real Clamydes appears at court and the princess 
spurns him as a counterfeit. But when Clamydes chal- 
lenges the pretender to mortal combat the latter confesses 
the fraud without a moment's delay. In another early play, 
J Ieronimo, the impersonating lover comes to a tragic end. 
Alcario, who "affects" Bellimperia, is advised to get access 
to her by impersonating her accepted lover Andrea. Alcario 
plays his part well and meets the lady, but is temporarily 
sent away by her. He has proceeded only a step or two 
when he is killed by an assassin who mistook him for the 

6 See Chapter IV. 



THE LOVER 183 

real Andrea. The latter arrives on the scene in time to hear 
Bellimperia mourning over his supposed death. 7 

The influence of Amphitruo on the two plays just dis- 
cussed is traceable though slight. But a much more direct 
and obvious influence is to be seen in the four plays which 
we shall next consider. The second act of Heywood's 
Silver Age (1595), which is really the main plot of the play, 
is a fairly close version of Amphitruo. The substance of 
Heywood's rendering is as follows: Amphitrio, Alcmena's 
husband, who is away at war, is hourly expected to return. 
Ganymede, disguised as Amphitrio's servant Socia, heralds 
Amphitrio's arrival, and Alcmena prepares a banquet. But 
the supposed husband whom she banquets and beds is really 
Jupiter in disguise. During the night the real Socia comes 
to announce the real Amphitrio, but Ganymede-Socia, who 
is on the watch, outfaces the poor servant, beating him and 
maintaining that he (Ganymede) is the only and original 
Socia, and proves it by giving an account of everything that 
has happened to the real Socia. At early dawn Jupiter- 
Amphitrio bids Alcmena farewell with the excuse that he 
must hurry back to war. Meanwhile, Socia, sorely per- 
plexed and doubtful of his own identity, astonishes Amphi- 
trio by saying that the other servant is he, that the other 
servant proved that he was Socia, and that he has been beaten 
by himself (Socia). A situation of cross-purposes arises when 
Amphitrio reaches the house. He thinks that Alcmena is 
mad when she insists that he was with her two hours earlier; 
and she does not understand why he should have returned so 

7 A parallel occurs in Freeman's Imperiale (1639), where Francisco, 
disguised like Imperiale, pursuing an intrigue, is slain by an assassin 
who meant to kill Imperiale. See also Addison's Cato (IV, 1), where 
the disguised lover is mistaken for some one else and killed. 

An impersonation which results in a mistaken (though fortunate) 
marriage appears in Lyly's Mother Bombie (1590), where Candius and 
Livia exchange clothes with a couple who are about to be married. 



184 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

suddenly and be in such bad humor. She tells him the 
account of his battles (which omniscient Jupiter had al- 
ready told her), and finally convinces him that he has al- 
ready been with her, by producing the very gold cup which 
he had intended to give her, and thought that he still had 
under lock and key. Amphitrio, though puzzled, decides 
that his wife is a strumpet, and goes off vowing revenge. 
The next minute Jupiter-Amphitrio enters, and Alcmena is 
astonished that her husband should be so soon appeased. 
Ganymede-Socia bars the gates against Amphitrio and 
taunts him from the wall. Amphitrio a few minutes later 
upbraids the real Socia for these taunts. Finally the two 
Amphitrios and the two Socias appear together. Jupiter- 
Amphitrio declares that he is the genuine one, with the 
result that the two captains, the shipmaster, a servant, and 
even Alcmena declare in his favor, because of his mildness 
and nobility. In the end Jupiter appears in his glory under 
a rainbow, and assures Amphitrio that "faire Alcmena . . . 
neuer bosom'd Mortall saue thee." 

Another Amphitruo play is the Birth of Hercules (1610). 
It introduces an additional servant, and elaborates some of 
the comic situations; but, on the whole, the play corresponds 
closely with Plautus. 8 We might have had still another 
play on this theme if Ben Jonson had not been overcritical 
of theatrical realism. According to Drummond, as we saw 
in Chapter II, 9 Jonson had "ane intention to have made a 
play like Plautus's Amphitrio, but left it of, for that he could 
never find two so like others that he could persuade the 
spectators they were one." 10 

Considering the Amphitruo plot as a story of intrigue we 
must admit that no lover could ever assume a more success- 
ful disguise than that of Jupiter. It was an impersonation 

8 Wallace, 171. 9 See page 29. 

10 On the acting of doubles see Chapter II, pages 28-9. 



THE LOVER 185 

of mind as well as of body. But the main theatrical value 
in this comedy is the situation where the real husband is 
unable to prove his identity before the impostor, and the 
servant has to admit that somebody else is himself. The 
curious fact that the doubles scene should be so persistent 
an accompaniment of the disguised lover in English plays 
is due to the initial impulse given by Plautus. We have 
already observed these motives in the Supposes, in the two 
Shrew plays, in Sir Clyomon, in / Ieronimo, in the Silver Age, 
and in the Birth of Hercules. 

Marston's use of Plautian situations inherited through 
Sforza d'Oddi's Morti Vivi u is so interesting that perhaps 
we may be pardoned a detailed examination of his play 
What You Will (1601). Marston's great contribution to 
the plot is the dramatic effect of supposed disguise. 12 His 
plot is as follows : Albano is reported drowned ; and his wife, 
Celia, decides to marry Laverdure, a French knight. This 
match is opposed by Albano's brothers and by Jacomo, a 
disappointed suitor. They plan to disguise Francisco, a 
perfumer, and to train him in impersonating Albano, their 
scheme being to report that Albano had really saved him- 
self by swimming. Laverdure gets wind of this plot; and 
when Albano, who really is alive, enters the scene, Laver- 
dure jeers him with "perfumer," "musk cat," etc., and 
threatens him if he dare disturb the match. Albano, stut- 
tering with rage, is stupefied when Jacomo and the brothers 
pass by and congratulate him on his perfect impersonation! 
Albano decides that he must have drowned and that his 
"soul is skipped into a perfumer." Laverdure now decides 
that it might be a pleasant trick to "clothe another rascal 

11 Becker, 42. 

12 Supposed disguise appears in several Italian plays. See GV In- 
gannali, and Cecchi's Incantesimi, and Pellegrine. It appears in the 
English plays Philotus (1600), Eastward Ho (1604), and Honest Man's 
Fortune (1613). See also Chapter II, page 14, and Chapter IV, page 97. 



186 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

like Albano" as a foil to the disguised perfumer. We must 
keep in mind that this plan is not executed. Presently 
Albano and his counterfeit appear together. Celia, believ- 
ing that Laverdure has carried out his counterplot to dis- 
guise a fiddler like Albano, addresses both men as frauds, 
calling one a fiddler, and the other a perfumer. The 
brothers accept the fiddler myth, but now pretend that 
Francisco is the real Albano. A battle of words ensues, 
and since Albano has a natural stutter and Francisco must 
imitate him, this is a lively scene. 13 At the end Albano 
proves his identity by means of a birth-mark. 

Thus we see how Marston by a very skilful introduction 
of supposed disguise multiplies and intensifies the comic 
complications of the original plot. Laverdure's hint that 
it would be fun to disguise another man is acted upon as 
though the suggested disguise had already been effected. 
This makes it impossible to reveal the identities by simul- 
taneous appearance of the doubles; because the real Albano, 
whom the conspirators first mistook for their histrionic 
assistant, is now mistaken by them for a supposed second 
impersonator. Laverdure cannot convince any one that he 
has not disguised some fiddler like Albano; and Albano's 
efforts to identify himself by mere words only deepens the 
comic irony. But the birth-mark remains. Marston con- 
ceived his play quite in the spirit of the Italian plot makers, 
who multiplied their intricate confusions until it was almost 
impossible for the spectators to disentangle the various 
threads. 14 

13 Imitation of a stutterer by a disguised person occurs also in Look 
About You, somewhat earlier than Marston's play. See also Steele's 
Conscious Lovers (III, 1) where the servant Tom has to stutter when 
disguised as Target. 

14 Plautian doubles occur in Albumazar (1614) by Tomkins, a play 
adapted from della Porta's L'Astrologo. But this play has almost com- 
pletely lost sight of the disguised lover motive. 



THE LOVER 187 

In some English plays the character of the Plautian im- 
personating lover was altered, and he became, not the para- 
mour, but the honorable wooer. An example of this is the 
Fair Maid of the Exchange (1602), partly by Heywood. 15 
Frank loves Phyllis, but she favors the Cripple, who is un- 
selfish enough to disguise Frank in his own habit. Thus 
attired and acting like the Cripple, Frank plights troth to 
the unsuspecting girl. He gets the father's consent in his 
own character, after which he reappears as the Cripple. 
The revelation of his identity is forced by the unmotivated 
intrusion of the real Cripple craving audience with the 
heroine. In the end Phillis decides to accept Frank. 16 A 
similar but less dramatic situation occurs in the Two Noble 
Kinsmen, where the gaoler's daughter is in love with Pala- 
mon and talks distractedly of him. Palamon pays no atten- 
tion to her, but her ardent suitor, by disguising himself as 
Palamon, woos her successfully. 

The conclusion we come to, after studying the Amphitruo 
influence in English, is that there was a general pull away 
from the Jupiter-Alcmena intrigue toward more ideal, that 
is, less realistic situations. However, this pull was resisted 
by the tenacity of a good stage complication. From the 
stage manager the demand was persistent, not so much for 
the lover, as for the theatrical effect of the doubles situations 
which involve the real and counterfeit husband, and the real 
and counterfeit servant. 17 

15 See Aronstein. 

16 An inverse parallel to this occurs in Much Ado About Nothing 
(I and II), where Don Pedro disguises himself and woos a lady, not for 
himself, but for Claudio, whom he impersonates. This disguise is not 
in Shakespeare's sources as given by Furness. 

17 The popularity and influence of Amphitruo is further attested to 
by three interesting plays which fall outside our scope. They are 
Rotrou's Deux Sosies, Moliere's Amphitryon, and Dryden's Amphi- 



188 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

III 

We have seen how Shakespeare in The Shrew idealized the 
original of his disguised lover; and how Marston in What 
You Will elaborated the theatrical value of a Plautian 
situation. We shall now see how English drama borrowed 
the Italian intrigue of the lover disguised like a woman, 
without veiling any of its salaciousness. If this motive had 
any dramatic change at all in England it was the develop- 
ment into farce. Morally such a change was perhaps a 
healthy phenomenon. With relation to the progress of the 
plot this disguise is usually incidental or episodic, introduced 
perhaps chiefly for comic relief. 

The lover's disguise as a girl was, as we have remarked 
above, a motive in Salernitano's Novellino (1476), novel 12. 
How much earlier the story had appeared in literature we 
cannot say. 18 Salernitano tells of a youth who dresses in 
the garb of a widow in order to get access to an innkeeper's 
wife. The unsuspecting innkeeper puts the pretended 
widow to bed with his wife. Similar stratagems are often 
found in Italian drama. In Chapter III we have described 
da Bibbiena's Calandria (1513), where one of the Plautian 
twins disguises himself as a girl while carrying on an intrigue. 
We have also described della Porta's Fantesca (pr. 1592), 
where the lover, disguised as a maid servant, dwells with 

tryon. For other adaptations and analogues I refer to Reinhards- 
tottner. 

Landau suggests (71) that Amphilruo influenced the Decameron, 
III, 2. In this tale a groom impersonates his master and enjoys his 
mistress, who is deceived. The dialog is reminiscent of Plautus. 

18 The story of a lover disguised as a woman occurs in a Hebrew and 
in a Spanish version of the Seven Sages. See Landau, 42, and Tabelle 
B., No. 36. 

In Calderon's Monstnio de los Jardines (pr. 1672) Achilles disguises 
himself as a girl in order to prosecute a love affair with Deidamia. 



THE LOVER 189 

his lady at the home of her father. In Secchi's Camariera 
(1583), the lover disguises himself as a chambermaid, and 
in Gelli's Err ore (1555) a similar disguise is used. The lover 
disguised as girl appears in another of della Porta's plays, 
La Cintia (pr. 1606), which was translated into Latin at 
Cambridge under the title of Labyrinthus. 19 

A lover's safe access under the protection of petticoats 
was often as frankly represented in England as in Italy. 
The exploits of Achilles perhaps never got into English 
drama; but Jupiter in Heywood's Golden Age (1595) fulfils 
his desires with Calisto by disguising as a nymph. In 
Englishmen for My Money (1598) a lover, disguised as a 
neighbor girl, comes to the home of his beloved, and asks 
for lodging. The unsuspecting family, like the innkeeper 
in Salemitano's novel, send the supposed girl to the bed- 
chamber of the beloved. A similar ironical mistake favors 
a disguised lover in Philotus (1600). 20 The preliminaries to 
the lover disguise are that the doting Philotus wishes to 
marry Emelia, who escapes from her father's house by 
dressing as a man. It so happens that about the same 
time Emelia's twin brother returns to the village. He is 
mistaken for the disguised Emelia by her father and by old 
Philotus. When the brother sees the mistake he plays up 
to the joke and pretends to be a girl disguised as a man. 
After girls' clothes have been procured for the captive, old 
Philotus, still thinking he has caught Emelia, takes "her" 
home with him and, for safe-keeping until the wedding, 
puts "her" under the care of his own daughter, who shares 
her bedchamber with this prospective bride of her father. 
A situation somewhat like this develops in Day's Isle of 
Gulls (1605) . 21 Lisander, disguised as an amazon, gets 

19 See Chapter IV, page 81, and Chapter V, page 110. 

20 See Chapter V, page 112, for other aspects of the plot of Philotus. 

21 See discussion of this play in Chapter V. 



190 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

access to the Arcadian court of Duke Basilius. Through a 
series of ironical complications Lisander-Amazon is admitted 
to Violetta by her father, the duke himself. 

Beaumont and Fletcher in the Scornful Lady (1609) and 
Fletcher in Monsieur Thomas (after 1610) did not gloss over 
the affairs of disguised lovers. In Monsieur Thomas the 
hero, by dressing in his sister's clothes, gets safe access to 
the home of his sweetheart. The maid, with a sidelong look 
at the audience, pretends to mistake the lover for his sister, 
and lets him in to the lady's chamber. In the Scornful 
Lady a disguise is used to help two men in their designs. 
One man, who has vainly wooed the scornful lady, decides 
to make her jealous. He appears one day with a creature 
whom he introduces as his fiancee. This supposed young 
lady is another man in disguise. But the ruse works. The 
scornful lady decides to accept the hero immediately, much 
to his joy. Now the supposed fiancee pretends to be very 
dejected, swoons, and is comforted by the lady's sister, who 
takes "her" to bed with her and is not angry when the 
sex is discovered. 

What might have been a situation similar to that in 
Salernitano's novel is slightly altered in Jonson's The 
Devil Is an Ass (1616). Wittipol, who is in love with Mrs. 
Fitzdottrel, disguises himself as a Spanish lady and makes 
such an impression on Squire Fitzdottrel that the latter 
places his wife in the " Spanish Lady's" care. His judgment 
is further reflected upon by the fact that he makes over his 
estate to the "Spanish Lady." The loss of the estate is 
the serious consequence of the disguise; for, through some 
strange law of comic justice, Wittipol and Mrs. Fitzdottrel 
develop only the intimacy of friendship. 

The course of love is still further turned aside in Field's 
Amends for Ladies (1611). The agressive lover, Bold, dis- 
guises himself as a waiting woman and becomes chummy 



THE LOVER 191 

with Lady Bright. They indulge in loose talk until bedtime, 
when Lady Bright invites her new friend to sleep with her. 
Another scene intervenes; but the next we hear of the 
affair the insulted lady has become aware of B old's identity 
and drives him naked into the street. 

Of all the disguise stratagems of lovers the one of gaining 
access to a lady protected by a female habit is, as we have 
seen from the plays just described, the most nearly crystal- 
lized into a dramatic tradition. In the dozen or more plays 
here discussed the playwrights borrowed from their pred- 
ecessors or contemporaries, not only the general idea of 
female disguise, but also many of the details of the 
scene. 

The costume of the lover as a girl was, of course, in no 
sense traditional. Any dreso would do, whether of lady or 
servant girl, wife or widow. But, if we turn to disguised 
lovers in general, we find that one disguise costume, the 
lover as doctor, had become conventional in Italian drama 
and was frequently used in English drama. It occurs in 
Macchiavelli's Mandragola, in Bentivoglia's Geloso, and in 
Grazzini's Gelosia, to mention a few Italian examples. The 
lover disguised as a doctor was one of the conventions of 
the commedia delV arte. 22 The various influences from Italian 
doubtless suggested the doctor disguise in the English plays 
noted below. In Grim the Collier of Croyden (1600) Bel- 
phagor disguises himself as a doctor in order to hide a love 
intrigue. In Middleton's Mad World, My Masters (1606) 
Penitent Brothel, before turning penitent, avails himself of 
a doctor's disguise in order to carry on an amour with Mrs. 
Hairbrain. Later in the play he has an awakening of con- 
science and the affair is not continued. In Field's Amends 
for Ladies (1611) a wedding is about to begin when the bride 
suddenly feigns illness. Her lover, dressed like a doctor, 
22 See Chapter III, page 52. 



192 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

comes to treat her in her chamber, and marries her without 
a moment's delay, having brought a parson along. 23 

To return from this digression on a conventional costume, 
let us take leave of the lovers dressed like girls by remarking 
that in England this motive, like most cases of men dressed 
as women, was treated as farce. 

IV 

A playwright could produce farce from any given situa- 
tion involving a disguised lover by merely playing a laugh- 
able trick on the confident intriguing gallant. We have 
just described the fate of Bold who, at the moment of hoped 
for joy, was driven sans culottes into the street. We are 
familiar with the ill luck which befell Hortensio, who stepped 
into a room to teach a music lesson and returned with his 
head projecting through a broken lute. No one forgets the 
results of Falstaff's amorous adventures with the merry 
wives. Almost equally vivid is the picture of Volpone, 
disguised as a mountebank, being beaten away by the irate 
husband of his inamorata. 24 

The difficulties that a disguised lover might get into are 
manifold. In the Cambridge play Hymenceus (1580) by 
A. Fraunce the lover enters his lady's chamber in a masque 
costume, but inadvertently drinks a sleeping potion. His 
lady believes him dead and puts him into a neighbor's chest, 
which is presently carried off by thieves. The lover, upon 



23 In plays after 1616 the lover disguised as a doctor appears in 
Dekker's Wonder of a Kingdom (1623), and in Marmion's Fine Com- 
panion (1633). See also Moliere's U Amour Midecin, and Sheridan's 
Scheming Lieutenant. 

24 The mountebank scene is borrowed from commedia delV arte. See 
Smith, 187. Other cases of disguised lovers being caught and beaten 
are found in Giancarli's Cingana, Piccolomini's Alessandro (the original 
for Chapman's May Day), Mercati's Lanzi, and Cenati's Silvia Errante. 



THE LOVER 193 

reviving, is arrested and is completely at a loss to explain 
his adventure. Finally the truth is discovered, and the 
lover is pardoned on the ground that the sleeping potion 
had prevented his doing any harm. 25 In Chapman's May 
Day (adapted from the Italian Alessandro) one of the plots 
is the gulling of Lorenzo, who desires an affair with Fran- 
ciscina, Quintiliano's wife. He thinks of using a friar dis- 
guise, but a comrade declares that "that disguise is worne 
thread bare vpon euery stage, and so much villainy com- 
mitted vnder that habit; that 'tis growne as suspicious as 
the vilest." 26 Lorenzo is finally persuaded to impersonate 
Snail, the chimney sweep. He is waylaid and plagued by 
some companions who know of the disguise but pretend 
that they think he is Snail. When he has reached his lady, 
she, by arrangement with an accomplice, pretends that her 
husband is knocking at the door, and hides poor Lorenzo- 
Snail in the coal house. Finally the husband really does 
return, finds the unlucky lover in the coal house, and tor- 
tures him with threats. When Lorenzo is released he goes 
off muttering: "A plague of all disguises!" 

In some plots the lover is tricked into marrying a woman 
he did not want. Such is the case in the three examples 
which follow. In Monday's Fidele and Fortunio (an adapta- 
tion of Pasqualigi's Fedele) the pedant, disguised as a beggar, 
gets access to the maid Attilia. Later he induces the brag- 
gart Captain Crackstone to assume this beggar disguise in 
order to meet a certain lady in Attilia's clothes — so the 
pedant tells him. But this lady proves to be Attilia, and 
the captain, caught in the clutches of the law, is forced to 

25 The Hymenaeus plot, with the exception of the disguise of the 
lover, is imitated from the Decameron IV, 10. 

26 Compare the following comment in II, 2, of Swetnam, Arraigned 
by Women (1618-19): "... this habit; 'tis the best To cover, or to 
gain a free accesse, That can be possible in any project." 



194 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

marry the servant girl. In the Wise Woman of Hogsdon 
the double wedding, in which all parties are disguised, is so 
engineered that Young Chartley marries the very girl he 
intended to abandon. A similar exchange of intended brides 
occurs in Cupid's Whirligig by Sharpham. Lord Nonsuch 
is in love with Sir Timothy's wife. After having wooed her 
in vain, while disguised as a serving man and as a poor 
soldier, he succeeds in inducing Sir Timothy to divorce his 
wife. He recommends a certain Nan as the second wife of 
Sir Timothy. A masked marriage is to follow. When it 
comes tokens are exchanged through the foresight of a serv- 
ant, with the result that Sir Timothy marries his divorced 
wife, and Lord Nonsuch gets Nan. 

Such cases of the trickster tricked are legitimate bits of 
dramatic action. They combine theatrical circumstance, 
sometimes amounting to broad farce, with a sense of moral 
justice. If any one is to have a lute crushed over his head, 
or be cast into a river along with soiled linen, or be locked 
up in a trunk or a coal bin, the intriguing lover is the most 
deserving of the punishment — at least, thus the undis- 
guised lovers in the audience may reason. The gallant him- 
self may reflect otherwise upon the fates that permit the 
feet of love to become entangled in the toils of circumstance. 



In strong contrast with the farcical elements of the plays 
above described is the idealized situation of a royal person- 
age, disguised in lowly costume, and wooing a lady of high 
station, who, when prepared to sacrifice her social standing, 
is rewarded by learning that her suitor is a prince or king in 
disguise. 27 In England one of the earliest examples of such 

27 For continental analogues to this situation see Mariano's Pieta 
d'Amore (1518), and Lope de Vega's Ilustre Fregona, which is an 
adaptation of Cervantes's novel of the same name. 



THE LOVER 195 

romantic wooing is found in Mucedorus, a play which was 
doubtless old before its publication in 1598. 28 Mucedorus, 
Prince of Valencia, disguised as a shepherd, has the happy 
adventure of rescuing Princess Amadine from a bear, while 
her fiance takes to his heels. Later the fiance 1 returns and 
attempts to have the "shepherd" assassinated. He fails to 
kill the rival, but banishes him. The princess decides to 
accompany her hero, telling him that she honors him, " sov- 
ereign of my heart." He replies: " A shepherd and a sover- 
eign nothing like." But she maintains: "Yet like enough, 
where there is no dislike." Later in the play the princess 
is saved from a wild man by her lover, now disguised as a 
hermit. In the end the princess is made doubly happy by 
learning that her lover is the Prince of Valencia. 

The Chronicle History of King Leir (1594) contains a gen- 
eral resemblance to the above situation. The King of 
France, disguised as a palmer, addresses Cordelia, saying 
that he is wooing for the King of France. Cordelia ad- 
vises him: "Cease for thy King, seek for thyself to woo." 
Finally, when she has proved her devotion by declaring: 
"I'll hold thy palmer's staff within my hand, And think it is 
the sceptre of a queen," the king reveals his identity. 

Fair Em (before 1590), a rather loosely constructed play, 
has a romantic wooing of slight dramaturgic value. Em, 
supposedly the Miller's daughter, is wooed by three gentle- 
men in alleged disguises. Their change of costumes does not 
result in mistaken identity. Another episode in the play 
is the presence of William the Conqueror in disguise at the 
Danish court, where he had come to woo Blanch, the Danish 
princess. William really falls in love with another girl, with 
whom he arranges to elope. She, by a stratagem of substi- 

28 H. W. Hill has shown (31) that much of the plot of Mucedorus, 
including the prince's disguise as shepherd, is parallel to the episodes 
in Sidney's Arcadia. 



196 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

tution, sends Blanch in her place. But this, of course, is 
not a complication resulting from William's disguise. 

The noble lover in lowly disguise appears in Greene's 
Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay. This play has been com- 
pared with Fair Em in words that suggest a plot parallel 
between the two plays (Collins, Greene, II, 4). The similari- 
ties, however, are very general and not marked. Prince 
Edward falls in love with Margaret, a dairy maid, and sends 
Earl Lacy to woo her for him. Lacy, who disguises him- 
self in country apparel, woos Margaret for himself. She 
falls in love with the "country swain" because he differs 
from the rest in being witty and of "courtesie gentle, smell- 
ing of the court." Presently his disguise is revealed and 
ultimately the lovers are married. This disguise episode 
was not in the romance from which Greene drew his ma- 
terial. The playwright, therefore, must have added it be- 
cause he sensed a certain charm or theatrical value in the situ- 
ation of the courtly gentleman pretending to be a country lad. 

To this group of plays belongs also Dekker's Shoemaker's 
Holiday (1597-99). It contains a simple disguise spread 
thinly but charmingly throughout an entire play. The Earl 
of Lincoln, in order to cross the love of his nephew Lacy, 
sends him out of the country. But the young man contrives 
to send a substitute and remains in London, disguised as a 
Dutch shoemaker. He appears in his new role at the begin- 
ning of act II, but does not see his sweetheart Rose until the 
end of act III. The outcome of the affair is that the lovers 
elope and are married. Dramatically the disguise is of 
slight value except for the elocutionary opportunities in the 
part of Lacy-shoemaker, who speaks a delightful brand of 
Dutch. Besides there is a certain irony in the noble blooded 
Lacy's working as a shoemaker. 29 

29 Situations of less honorable love-making occur in Heywood's 
/ Edward IV (1594), where the king in disguise woos Jane Shore; and 



THE LOVER 197 

These five plays, Mucedorus, King Leir, Fair Em, Friar 
Bacon, and the Shoemaker's Holiday, all contain aristocratic 
lovers who by their disguises pretend to belong to lower 
ranks of society. But aside from this the resemblances are 
slight. There is no conventionalizing of the action, no 
copying of plot patterns. Nor are these situations distin- 
guished by the best craftsmanship ; but they contain a sen- 
timental appeal in the character of the heroine who is quite 
willing to sacrifice rank for love, and finds behind a dis- 
guise the best of both. 

We have noticed all through this chapter that in general 
the plays containing disguised lovers do not possess so much 
cohesive continuity, as, for example, the female page plays. 
The explanation of this lies in the nature of the disguise. 
The lover had unlimited scope in choosing costumes; and 
the characters to be impersonated varied all the way from 
the lady's maid to her husband. Thus, while the purpose 
was single, the methods were many. We have remarked 
that the disguised lover plots in Italian novelle and drama 
failed to emphasize the spiritual relations. Therefore an 
English playwright, unless he desired to represent realistic 
intrigue, had to reduce a disguised lover plot to farce, or 
idealize it into sentimental wooing. From the plays exam- 
ined we know that one course was taken as often as the other. 
Either, we maintain, was a dramatic improvement on the 
Italian tradition of disguise intrigue. 

in Dekker's Match Me in London (1611-23), where the king in disguise 
woos Tormiella. 



CHAPTER IX 
CONCLUSION 

Looking back over the plots we have examined and 
recalling the dramatic values we have perceived, we experi- 
ence a growing consciousness that the disguise motive is 
richer in dramatic possibilities than any other mere physical 
contrivance. With respect to material, aside from technic, 
we are more and more impressed with the multiplicity of 
situations. A simple device used in the dawn of drama 
grew into solid usage, meanwhile ramifying constantly until 
it yielded a vast bulk of dramatic stuff. This extensive 
scope of disguise was due to its extreme flexibility. The 
motive could serve any type of drama and could be wrought 
in the spirit of any particular play. Its utility ranged from 
the farcical exploits of the boy bride in Casina to the romantic 
adventures of Rosalind; from the intrigues of Eunuchus or 
Amphitruo to the melodramatic spying of the Malcontent; 
from the domestic distresses of the Honest Whore to the 
tender heartache of the maid in Philaster; from the chame- 
leon rogueries of Skink to the constant and pathetic service 
of Kent. Disguise was used by playwrights of diverse aims 
and methods — Lyly with his courtly fables, Middleton 
with his vivid impressions of London realities, Jonson with 
his "humours," and Shakespeare with his searching delinea- 
tion of character. 

The flexibility of disguise is evident, not only in the plays 
of various nature, but in the dissimilarities of similar situa- 
tions. Thus the female page may serve her lover, or his 
mistress, her own rival; she may assume her part in order 

199 



200 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

to help a husband, or to slay a ravisher; she may uncon- 
sciously lead some lady into a mistaken wooing, or herself 
be the victim of ironical demands. A boy may disguise him- 
self as a nymph or an old witch, as an amazon or a bride. 
The ingenious deviltries of a rogue end only when the theat- 
rically impossible begins. The spy may secretly observe 
his subjects or his enemy, his brother or his friend, his child 
or his wife, or the wife may spy on her husband. The lover 
may pursue his designs with various success in the disguises 
of servingman, eunuch, tutor, dancing master, gardener, 
doctor, priest, chambermaid, or sister; he may impersonate 
some favored lover or the husband himself. 

Flexibility characterized the general method as well as 
the content of a disguise action. Whether the motive was 
basic, incidental, or episodic, it was manipulated in various 
manners. We have contrasted the expository forewarning 
with the surprise plot. We have felt the dramatic value of 
suspected disguise, and the refreshing diversion in supposed 
or pretended disguise. We have seen single disguises develop 
into exuberant multiplications, or become involved in retro- 
disguise. Therefore, the first thing we remark about dis- 
guise is its flexibility and consequent scope. 

In spite of all this flexibility the disguise motive had 
peculiar tenacity, too, a persistent tendency toward histori- 
cal continuity. The preceding chapters in this book have 
indicated the main channels of influence. The traditional 
and conventional types that became well recognized by the 
dramatist need no further definition here. In exploring the 
literary currents of disguise we are impressed by length as 
well as by depth. From the disguises in What You Will or 
the Taming of The Shrew we trace our way back to Plautus 
and Terence. Upstream from Epiccene is Casina. The 
multi-disguises in Look About You derive one element, the 



CONCLUSION 201 

exchange of costumes, from Aristophanes, and the other 
element, rapid shifting, from Plautus. The female page of 
Shakespeare was a century old in Italian drama and had 
her youth in the days before the medieval romances. The 
spy was already a venerable figure when Shakespeare wrote 
Measure for Measure. Retro-disguise was not new in Eng- 
land. The unforeseen discovery of disguise was appar- 
ently an English contribution to dramaturgy, but such a 
surprise was after all a substitute for the obsolete Greek 
device of an unforeseen discovery of rank or family relation- 
ship, or the sudden solution by the deus ex machina. All 
our study of literary relations emphasizes the dramatic 
reliability of the disguise situations that were old yet ever 
novel. In the broadest sense, disguise is as old as the art 
of acting, for acting is itself disguise. Our second comment 
on dramatic disguise is that it is curiously tenacious, that the 
various situations chronologically arranged possess a remark- 
able cohesiveness, and constitute a firmly linked chain that 
binds the technicians of Athens with those of London. 

Why was the disguise motive basic and so extensive in 
Elizabethan drama? There are many answers: first, be- 
cause of the literary inheritance from Italian drama, and 
from Italian novelle, directly, or through English non-dramatic 
literature; second, because of the similar influence from bal- 
lads and other literature of British origin; third, because of 
stage conditions, such as the custom of boys playing female 
parts, or the presence in a company of a skilful mimic and 
impersonator. Furthermore, disguise was popular in Eng- 
land, and was constantly added to plots which did not 
originally contain it, for the same reason that it was popular 
in Italian -or Spanish drama, namely, because of its great 
dramatic utility. This dramatic utility, as we have shown 
in Chapter II, applies both to the weaving of the plot, and 



202 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

to its representation on the stage. We recall that disguise 
was useful to the writer because it initiated, developed, and 
terminated plots easily, because it made the action compact, 
and because it permitted veiled allusion in the dialog; that 
it was useful in the theater because it permitted pantomime, 
bodily mimicry, and stage business in the manipulation of 
costume and the accessories of make-up, and because it 
permitted elocutionary dissimulation, most subtle of all in 
the veiled allusions. The dramatic utility of disguise situ- 
ations, when once recognized by the playwrights, would 
alone have insured repetition and conventionalizing on the 
Elizabethan stage. Yet three hundred years later in our 
theater the criterion of stage verisimilitude deprives us of the 
delightful improbabilities of romantic disguise plots. 

What influence disguise plays exerted on the technic of 
English drama is an interesting speculation. Doubtless 
many playwrights learned the lessons of compact technic, 
and of mechanical unity, the logical connection between the 
beginning and the end of an action, from their experimenta- 
tion with disguise plots. The best lesson in technic was 
learned from the surprise plays. The influence of plays like 
Epiccene and Philaster tended to do away with unnecessary 
exposition of plot. It is true, as we saw in Chapters IV 
and V, that complete surprise is an extreme method involv- 
ing many defects, but it is also true that copious explanation 
of an action about to take place is another extreme. The 
better dramaturgy lies between. It gives suspense without 
shock, and permitted the suspicions of penetrating spec- 
tators to develop into dramatic realization. From about 
1608 onward there was, on the whole, less and less expository 
narration and forewarning, especially in disguise plays. 

Perhaps there was a harmful influence, also, exerted by 
the success of disguise plots. It is easy for a poor playwright 



CONCLUSION 203 

to upset the moral motivation of a play by the intervention 
of mere physical (and sometimes accidental) circumstance. 
Such failure to subordinate the mechanical devices of drama- 
turgy to the higher purposes of dramatic action are manifest 
in any plot where screaming farce interrupts the progress of 
comedy, or where the initial improbabilities of a situation 
can hardly be accepted. However, such dramatic defects 
can be only relatively defined. It depends on taste. Most 
of us would agree that Chapman's Blind Beggar of Alexandria 
is quite improbable and is farcical beyond laughter; but 
that play is an extreme case, and probably the only one upon 
which we could agree. By glancing back at the best plots 
discussed in the preceding chapters we can soon decide that 
there is nothing incompatible in a moral motive for action 
and the use of disguise. One is an impelling cause, the other 
is an enabling means. 

Before taking leave of our subject it may be pleasant to 
observe again the difference between the disguise plays of 
England and those of Italy. Speaking broadly and ignoring 
exceptions we may say that the playwrights of England sub- 
stituted the freshness of idyllic, romantic, or sentimental 
situation for the stuffy air of realistic intrigue; they placed 
dramatic emphasis on situation and not on a succession of 
incidents; they preferred the portraiture of an engaging char- 
acter to the intricate tangles of plot. Shakespeare is typi- 
cal; he does not illustrate all the uses of disguise plots, but 
he illustrates the best. 



APPENDIX A 

[A list of the critical or historical works which have been referred 
to in the text or foot-notes of this book.] 

Anders, H. R. D. Shakespeare's Books. Berlin, 1904. 
Aronstein, P. Die Verfassenschaft des Dramas The Faire Maid of 

the Exchange. In Eng. Stud., xlv. 
Arnold, M. L. The Soliloquies of Shakespeare. New York, 

1911. 
Baxman, E. Middletons Lustspiel "The Widow" und Boccaccios 

"II Decamerone," III, 3, und II, 2. Halle, 1904. 
Bayne, R. Lesser Elizabethan Dramatists. Chapter xiii, in vol. 

v of the Cambridge History of English Literature. 
Becker, P. Das Verhaltnis von John Marston's "What you Will" 

zu Plautus' "Amphitruo" und Sforza d'Oddi's "I Morti Vivi." 

Halle, 1904. 
Boas, F. S. (Ed.) The Taming of A Shrew. London, 1908. 

(Ed.) The Works of Thomas Kyd. Oxford, 1901. 

Bond, R. W. Early Plays from the Italian. Oxford, 1911. 
Brockhaus, H. Analyse des 6. Buches von Somadeva's Marchen- 

sammlung. In Berichte u. d. Verh. d. Kgl. Sachs. Gesellsch. d. 

Wissensch. z. Leipzig, xii, 1860. 
Bullen, A. H. (Ed.) The Works of Thomas Middleton. 8 vols. 

London, 1885-86. 

(Ed.) The Works of George Peele. 2 vols. Boston, 1888. 

Capps, E. (Ed.) Four Plays of Menander. Boston, n. d. 

Cederschiold, G. Fornsogur Sudrlanda. Lund, 1884. 

Child, E. J. (Ed.) The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. 5 

vols. Boston, 1882-1898. 
Christ, K. Quellenstudien zu den Dramen Thomas Middletons. 

Borna-Leipzig. 1905. 
Churchill, G. B. und Keller, W. Die lateinischen Universitats- 

Dramen in der Zeit der Konigen Elizabeth. In Jarhbuch, xxxiv. 
205 



206 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

Colons, J. C. (Ed.) The Plays and Poems of Robert Greene. 2 

vols. Oxford, 1905. 
Creizenach, W. Geschichte des neueren Dramas, vols, i-iv, 

Halle, 1893-1909. 
Dodsley, R. A Select Collection of Old English Plays . . . enlarged 

by W. C. Hazlitt. 15 vols. London, 1874-76. 
Drummond, W. Notes of Ben Jonson's Conversations with William 

Drummond of Hawthornden. Repr. Shak. Soc, 1842. 
Dunlop, J. C. History of Prose Fiction. 2 vols. London, 1911. 
Eckhardt, E. Die lustige Person im alter en englischen Drama bis 

1642. Berlin, 1902. 
Feuillerat, A. John Lyly. Cambridge, 1910. 
Fischer, H. Nathaniel Fields Komodie " Amends for Ladies," 

eine literarhistorische Untersuchung und Quellenstudie. Kiel, 

1907. 
Fleay, F. G. A Biographical Chronicle of the English Drama. 2 

vols. London, 1891. 
A Chronicle History of the Life and Works of William Shake- 
speare. New York, 1886. 
Forsythe, R. S. Some Parallels to Passages in the First Part of 

Jeronimo. In Mod. Lang. Notes, xxvii. 
Fournier, E. Le Theatre Frangais avant La Renaissance. Paris, 

1872. 
Freeburg, V. O. A Sanskrit Parallel to an Elizabethan Plot. In 

Mod. Lang. Notes, xxvii. 
Furness, H. H. (Ed.) Much Ado About Nothing. Philadelphia, 

1899. 
Gayley, CM. (General Editor) Representative English Comedies, 

with Introductory Essays and Notes. 3 vols. New York, 

1903-1914. 
Gifford, W. (Ed.) The Works of Ben Jonson. 9 vols. London, 

1816. 
Gosson, S. The Schoole of Abuse. Ed. by E. Arber. West- 
minster, 1895. 
Gothein, M. Die Frau im englischen Drama vor Shakespeare.^ In 

Jahrbuch, xl. 
Greg, W. W. (Ed.) Henslowe's Diary. 3 vols. London, 1904-19. 



APPENDIX A 207 

Guskar, H. Fletchers Monsieur Thomas und seine Quellen. In 

Anglia, (n. f.) xvi, xvii. 
Haigh, A. E. The Attic Theatre. Oxford, 1889. 
Hart, H. C. (Ed.) The Merry Wives of Windsor. London, 

1904. 
Hennigs, W. Studien zu Lope de Vega Carpio. Gottingen, 1891. 
Henry, A. (Ed.) Epicaene. New York, 1906. 
Henslowe, P. See Greg. 
Herbst, C. Cupid's Revenge by Beaumont and Fletcher und Andro- 

mana, or the Merchants' Wife in ihrer Beziehung zu einander 

und zu ihrer Quelle. Konigsberg, 1906. 
Hickie, W. J. (Tr.) The Comedies of Aristophanes. 2 vols. London, 

1869-87. 
Hill, H. W. Sidney's Arcadia and the Elizabethan Drama. In 

Univ. of Nevada Studies, 1908. 
Hunt, M. L. Thomas Dekker. New York, 1911. 
Jackson, A. V. W. Disguising on the Stage as a Dramatic Device in 

Sanskrit Plays. In Proc. Am. Philol. Assoc, xxix. 
Jacobi, G. A. Die Frauengestalten der Beaumont-Fletcherischen 

Dramen. Halle, 1909. 
Keller, W. (Ed.) The Wars of Cyrus. In Jahrbuch, xxxvii. 
Klein, J. L. Geschichte des Dramas. 13 vols. Leipzig, 1865-76. 
Kolbing, E. Riddarasogur. Strassburg, 1872. 
Koeppel, E. Quellen-Studien zu den Dramen Ben Jonson's, John 

Marston's und Beaumont und Fletcher's. Erlangen und Leipzig, 

1895. 
Kroneberg, E. George Peek's "Edward the First." Ein literar- 

historische Untersuchung. Jena, 1903. 
Lacroix, P. (Ed.) Recueil de Farces, Soties, et Moralites. Paris, 

1859. 
Lamb, C. and M. The Complete Works of. Ed. E. V. Lucas, 

7 vols. London, 1903. 
Landau, M. Die Quellen des Dekameron. Stuttgart, 1884. 
Lee, A. C. The Decameron; Its Sources and Analogues. London, 

1901. 
Lee, Sir Sidney. The French Renaissance in England. Oxford, 

1910. 



208 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

Luce, M. (Ed.) Apolonius and Silla. New York and London, 

1912. 
Mabille, E. (Ed.) Choix de Farces, Soties, et Moralites. 2 vols. 

Nice, 1872-73. 
Macgillivray, J. Life and Works of Pierre Larivey. Leipzig, 

1889. 
Matthews, B. Moliere. New York, 1910. 

A Study of the Drama. New York, 1910. 

Melville, Sir James. Memoirs. Glasgow, 1751. 

Meyer, P. Notice sur le Roman de Tristan de Nanteuil. In 

Jahrbuch f. Rom. u. Engl. Lit., ix. 
Mezieres, A. Shakespeare. Ses (Euvres et Ses Critiques. Paris, 

1865. 
Nibbe, H. (Ed.) The Fleire. In Materialen zur Kunde. 1912. 
Northup, G. T. (Ed.) La Selva Confusa. In Revue Hispanique, 

xxi. 
Painter, W. The Palace of Pleasure. 3 vols. London, 1890. 
Parrot, T. M. (Ed.) The Plays and Poems of George Chapman. 

3 vols. London, 1910-1914 (vols. 1 and 2). 
Pepys, S. The Diary of. 9 vols. London, 1893-99. 
Percy, T. Reliques of Ancient English Poetry. London, 

1765. 
Price, W. T. The Technique of the Drama. New York, 1892. 
Reinhardstottner, K. von. Plautus. Leipzig, 1886. 
Rennert, H. A. Life of Lope de Vega. Philadelphia, 1904. 
Richter, K. Beaumont und Fletcher's " The Honest Man's Fortune" 

und seine Quellen. Halle, 1905. 
Rosenberg, S. L. M. See Calderon, La Espanola de Florencia. 
Sampson, M. W. The Plays of Edward Sharpham. In Studies in 

Language and Literature in Honor of J. M. Hart. New York, 

1910. 
Scala, Flaminio. II teatro delle favole, etc. Venice, 1611. 

(The author has made use of Miss Winifred Smith's transla- 
tions (in manuscript) from this collection of commedie dell' 
arte.) 
Schack, A. T. von. Historia de La Literatura y del Arte Dramatico 

en Espana. trad. . . . E. de Mier. 5 vols. Madrid, 1885-87. 



APPENDIX A 209 

Schelling, F. E. Elizabethan Drama, 1558-1642. 2 vols. London, 

1908. 
Schulz, E. Das Verkleidungsmotiv bei Shakespeare mit Unter- 

suchung der Quellen. Halle, 1904. 
Schuyler, M. A Bibliography of the Sanskrit Drama. New York, 

1906. 
Smith, W. The Commedia dell' Arte. New York, 1912. 
Stiefel, A. L. Zur Quellenfrage von John Fletcher's "Monsieur 

Thomas." In Eng. Stud., xxxvi. 
Stoll, E. E. John Webster; Periods of his Work as Determined by 

his Relations to the Drama of his Day. Cambridge (U. S. A.), 

1905. 
Thorndike, A. H. The Influence of Beaumont and Fletcher on 

Shakespeare. Worcester, 1901. 
Symonds, J. A. The Renaissance in Italy. 2 vols. New York, 

1882. 
Tennant, G. B. (Ed.) The New Inn. New York, 1908. 
Teuffel and Schwabe. History of Roman Literature. London, 

1891. 
Thieme, W. Peek's Edward I und seine Quellen. Halle, 1903. 
Tolman, A. H. Shakespeare's Part in the "Taming of the Shrew." 

In Pub. Mod. Lang. Assoc, v. 
Wallace, M. W. (Ed.) The Birth of Hercules. Chicago, 1903. 
Ward, A. W. A History of English Dramatic Literature. 3 vols. 

London, 1899. 
White, R. G. Studies in Shakespeare. Boston, 1896. 
Wilson, H. H. Select Specimens of the Theatre of the Hindus. 

Translated from the Original Sanskrit. 2 vols. London, 1871. 
Winter, W. Shakespeare on the Stage. Second Series. New 

York, 1915. 
Wurzbach, W. von. Lope de Vega und seine Komodien. Leipzig, 

1899. 
Zuge, K. Das Verkleidungsmotiv in den englisch-schottischen 

Volksballaden. Halle, 1908. 



APPENDIX B 

[The following is a list of the plays, novels, romances, ballads, 
etc., which have been discussed in this book. The items here 
classified according to author will be found listed according to 
title in the index. A few of the plays here named do not contain 
the disguise motive. 

For the full titles represented by the names Dodsley, Klein, 
Scala, etc., the reader should refer to Appendix A.] 

Anonymous Plays: 

Albion Knight. Fragment in Shak. Soc, 1844. 

Ballad of Gude Wallace. See Child. 

Beggar's Daughter of Bednal Green, The. See Percy. 

Birth of Hercules, The. Ed. M. W. Wallace. Chicago, 1903. 

Capitani Simili, Li Due. See Scala. 

Capitano, II. See Scala. 

Common Conditions. Repr. Quell, u. Forsch., lxxx. 

Comte d'Artois, Le Liure du tres Chevalereux, et de sa Femme. 

Ed. J. Barrois. Paris, 1837. 

Creduta Morta, La. See Scala. 

Cromwell, Thomas Lord. Ed. C. F. T. Brooke. Shakespeare 

Apocrypha, 1908. 

Disguises, The. (Not extant. See Chapter VI, page 122.) 

Doctor Disperato, II. See Scala. 

Fair Em. Ed. C. F. T. Brooke. Shakespeare Apocrypha, 

1908. 
Fair Maid of Bristow, The. Ed. A. H. Quinn. Philadelphia, 

1902. 

Faithful Friends. In the Works of Beaumont and Fletcher, vol. ii. 

Famous History of George a Greene, The. Described and printed 

in part in Collins's Greene. 

Felix andPhilomena. (Not extant. See Chapter IV, page 68.) 

Fidi Amid, Li Tre. See Scala. 

Fidi Notari, Li Due. See Scala. 

211 



212 disguise plots in elizabethan drama 

Anonymous Plays: 

Finta Pazza, La. See Scala. 

Fortuna di Flavio, La. See summary by Miss Smith in Mod. 

Phil., viii. 

Grim the Collier of Croyden. Dodsley, viii. 

Ieronimo, The First Part of. Boas, Kyd. 

Ingannati, GV. Tr. by T. L. Peacock, Works. 1875, vol. 3. 

Jack Juggler. Dodsley, ii. 

Jew The. (Not extant. Mentioned by Gosson.) 

King Horn. E. E. T. S. Old Series, xiv. 

King Leir, The Chronicle History of. Ed. Sir Sidney Lee. 

London, 1909. 

Knack to Know an Honest Man, A . Printed by M alone So- 
ciety, 1910. 

Knack to Know a Knave, A . Dodsley, vi. 

Lozlia. Ed. G. C. Moore Smith. Cambridge, 1910. 

London Prodigal, The. Ed. C. F. T. Brooke. Shakespeare 

Apocrypha, 1908. 

Look About You. Dodsley, vii. 

Lusty Juventus. In Hawkins's Origin of the English Drama, i. 

Magus saga. In Cederschiold, Fornsbgur. 

Marito, II. See Scala. 

Marriage of Wit and Wisdom, The. Shak. Soc, 1846. 

Mirmans saga. In Kolbing, Riddarasbgur. 

Mucedorus. Ed. Warnke and Proescholdt. Halle, 1878. 

New Custom. Dodsley, iii. 

Pellegrino Fido Amante, II. See Scala. 

Philotus. Repr. Bannatyne Club, 1835. 

Pidinzuolo. Described by Creizenach. 

Queen Eleanor's Confession. Child, iii and iv. 

Rare Triumphs of Love and Fortune, The. Dodsley, vi k 

Richard II, The Tragedy of King. Jahrbuch, xxxv. 

Roi Flore et de la Belle Jehane, Du. In Moland and Heri- 

cault's Nouvelles Francoises. Paris, 1856. 

Sir Clyomon and Sir Clamydes. In Bullen's Peele. 

Sir Orpheo. Ritson's Ancient English Metrical Romances. 

London, 1802, ii. 



appendix b 213 

Anonymous Plays: 

Specchio, La. See Scala. 

Sposa, La. See Scala. 

Swetnam, the Woman Hater, Arraigned by Women. Ed. 

A. B. Grosart. Manchester, 1880. 

Taming of A Shrew, The. Ed. F. S. Boas. London, 1908. 

Thracian Wonder, The. In Hazlitt's Webster. 

Timon. Ed. A. Dyce. Shak. Soc, 1842. 

Tom Tyler and his Wife. Ed. F. E. Schelling, Mod. Lang. 

Publ, xv, 1900. 
Tragici Successi, Li. Tr. by Miss Winifred Smith in Mod. 

Phil., xii. 

Travagliata Isabella, La. See Scala. 

Tristan de Nanteuil (or Guy de Nanteuil). Ed. P. Meyer. 

Paris, 1861. 

Vecchio Geloso, II. See Scala. 

Wars of Cyrus, The. Repr. Jahrbuch, xxxvii, 1901. 

Zelotypus. Described by Churchill and Keller. 

Addison, J. The Poetical Works of. New York, 1860. 

Cato. 

jEschylus. 

Choephori. Tr. by T. G. Tucker. Cambridge, 1901. 

Aretino, Pietro. Quattro Comedie, n. p., 1588. 

Marescalco, II. 

Talanta, La. 

Ariosto, L. 

Suppositi, I. Venice, 1602. 

Aristophanes. The Comedies of. Tr. by J. Hickie. London 

1869-87. 

Acharnians, The. 

Ecclesiazusai. 

Frogs, The. 

Thesmophoriazusas. 

Armin, R. 

Two Maids of More-Clacke, The History of the. Ed. A. B. 

Grosart. Manchester, 1880. 



214 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

Armin, R. 

Valiant Welshman, The. Ed. V. Kreb. Erlangen and Leipzig, 

1902. 
Bandello, M. The Novels. Tr. by J. P. Collier, 6 vols. London, 

1890. 

Book I, Novel 18. 

Book I, Novel 50. 

Book II, Novel 27. 

Book II, Novel 36. 



Barrey, L. 

Ram Alley. Dodsley, x. 

Beaumont and Fletcher. The Works of. Cambridge, 1905-12. 

Beggar's Bush. 

Captain, The. 

Coxcomb, The. 

Cupid's Revenge. 

Love's Cure. 

Maid's Tragedy, The. Ed. A. H. Thorndike. Boston, 1906. 

Philaster. Ed. A. H. Thorndike. Boston, 1906. 

Scornful Lady, The. 

Bentivoglio, Ercole. 

Geloso, II. Described by Klein. 

Berkeley, Sir William. 

Lost Lady, The. Dodsley, xii. 

Berrardo, Girolomo. 

Cassina. Described by Reinhardstottner. 

Bhavabhuti. 

Malati and Mddhava. Tr. by Wilson. See Appendix A. 

BlBIENA, B. DOVIZI DA. 

Calandr(i)a, La. In Biblioteca Classica Italiana. Teatro 

Classico. Trieste, 1858. 
Boccaccio. The Decameron. Tr. by L. Flameng. Philadelphia, 

1881. 

Day II, Novel 2. 

Day II, Novel 3. 

Day II, Novel 9. 

Day III, Novel 2. 



appendix b 215 

Boccaccio. 

Day III, Novel 7. 

Day III, Novel 9. 

Day IV, Novel 2. 

Day IV, Novel 10. 

Day VII, Novel 5. 

Day VIII, Novel 4. 

Day X, Novel 9. 

Brome, R. The Plays of. 3 vols. London, 1873. 

City Wit, The. 

Damoiselle, The. 

English Moor, The. 

Mad Couple Well Matched, The. 

Northern Lass, The. 

Calderon de La Barca, D. Pedro. Las Comedias de. Ed. J. J. 
Keil, 4 vols. Leipzig, 1827-30. 

Amor, Honor y Poder. 

Cenobia, La Gran. 

Devotion of the Cross, The. Tr. by D. Florence MacCarthy. 

Dublin, 1870. 

Espahola de Florencia, La. Ed. S. L. Rosenberg. Philadelphia, 

1911. 

Joseph de las Mugeres, El. 

Maestro de Danzar, El. 

Monstruo de los Jardines, El. 

Selva Confusa, La. See Northup, Appendix A. 

Vida es Sueno, La. Ed. W. W. Comfort. New York, 1904. 

Calmo, Andrea. 

Travaglia, II. Described by Creizenach. 

Carliell, L. 

Deserving Favorite, The. Ed. C. H. Gray. Chicago, 1905. 

Cecchi, Giovanni Maria. 

Incantesemi, GV . In Frighetti, Teatro Comico Fiorentino, 1750, 

vol. i. 

Pellegrine, Le. In Commedie Inedite. Ed. G. Tortoli. Flor- 
ence, 1855. 

Rivali, I. Described by Klein. 



216 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

Cenati, Bernardino. 

Silvia Errante, La. Described by Stiefel in Jahrbuch, xxxv. 

Cervantes, Miguel de. 

Curioso Impertinente, El. In Don Quixote, Part 1, chaps. 

33, 34, 35. 
Dos Donzellas, Las. In Exemplary Novels, Tr. by N. Maccol. 

Glasgow, 1902. 
Ilustre Fregona, La. In Exemplary Novels, Tr. by N. Maccol. 

Glasgow, 1902. 
Laberinto de Amor, El. In Teatro Completo. 3 vols. Madrid, 

1896-97. 
Chapman, G. The Plays and Poems by. Ed. T. M. Parrot. 3 

vols. London, 1910-14 (vols. 1 and 2). 

Blind Beggar of Alexandria, The. 

May Day. 

Widow's Tears, The. 

Chettle, H. 

Blind Beggar of Bednal Green, The. (With Day) See Day. 

Robert, Earl of Huntington, The Downfall of. (With Munday) 

See Munday. 

ClNTHIO, GlRALDI. 

Arrenopia. Described by Klein. 

Heccatommithi, Day III, Novel 1. In Heccatommithi, 2 vols., 

Venice, 1580. 
Heccatommithi, Day VIII, Novel 5. In Heccatommithi, 2 

vols., Venice, 1580. 
Congreve, W. In Mermaid Series, London, n. d. 

Double Dealer, The. 

Mourning Bride, The. 

Daborne, R. 

Poor-Man's Comfort, The. London, 1655. Anglia, xxi. 

Davenport, R. 

City Nightcap, The. Dodsley, xiii. 

Day, J. Works. Ed. A. H. Bullen. London, 1881. 

Blind Beggar of Bednal Green, The. (With Chettle) Ed. W. 

Bang. Louvain, 1902. 
Humour Out of Breath. 



APPENDIX B 217 

Day, J. 

Isle of Gulls, The. 

Law Tricks. 

Maid's Metamorphosis, The. In Bullen, Old Plays, i. 

Dekker, T. Dramatic Works, 4 vols. London, 1873. 

I Honest Whore, The. (With Middleton) 

II Honest Whore, The. (With Middleton) 

Match me in London. 

Old Fortunatus. 

Patient Grissil. (With Chettle and Haughton) In Shak. Soc, 

1841. 

Shoemaker's Holiday, The. 

Westward Ho. (With Webster) 

Whore of Babylon, The. 

Witch of Edmonton, The. (With Rowley and Ford) 

Wonder of a Kingdom, The. 

Dolci, Lodovico. 

Ragazzo, II. Described by Klein. 

Drayton, M. 

Merry Devil of Edmonton, The. Dodsley, x. 

Oldcastle, First Part of Sir John. (With collaborators) See 

Munday. 
Dryden, J. Works. Ed. Sir Walter Scott. Rev. by G. Saints- 
bury. Edinburgh, 1882-93. 

Amphitryon. 

Rival Ladies, The. 

Euripides. Tr. by A. S. Way. London, 1912. 

Alcestis. 

Bacchas. 

Rhesus. 

Field, N. 

Amends for Ladies. In Nero and Other Plays. London, 

1888. 
Woman is a Weathercock. In Nero, etc. 



Fiorentino, Giovanni. II Pecorone. 

Day III, Novel 1. 

Day IV, Novel 1. In Locella, Novelle Antichi. Leipzig, 1879. 



218 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

Fletcher, J. See also Beaumont and Fletcher. 

Honest Man's Fortune, The. (With collaborators) 

Love's Pilgrimage. 

Loyal Subject, The. 

Monsieur Thomas. 

Night Walker, The. 

Pilgrim, The. 

Two Noble Kinsmen, The. (With Shakespeare) 

Widow, The. (Attributed to " Jonson, Fletcher, and Middle- 
ton.") In Bullen's Middleton. 

Ford, J. Plays. In The Dramatic Works of Massinger and Ford. 
London, 1869. 

Lover's Melancholy, The. 

'Tis Pity She's a Whore. 

Witch of Edmonton, The. (With Rowley and Dekker) 

Fraunce, A. 

Hymenceus. Ed. G. C. Moore Smith. Louvain, 1908. 

Freeman, R. 

Imperiale. London, 1639. 

Gascoigne, G. 

Supposes, The. Ed. J. W. Cunliffe. Boston, 1906. 

Gat, J. 

Three Hours after Marriage. (With Pope and Arbuthnot) 

London, 1717. 

Gelli, Giovanni Battista. Delle opere di. Ed. F. Reina. 3 
vols. Milan, 1804-07. 

Err ore, L'. 

GlANCARLI. 

Cingana, La. Described by Creizenach; also by Stiefel, 

Jahrbuch, xxxv. 

GlUSTI, VlNCENZO. 

Fortunio. Described by Stiefel. Jahrbuch, xxxv. 

Glapthorne, H. Plays and Poems. 2 vols. London, 1874. 

Hollander, The. 

Godard, J. 

Desguisez, Les. Described by Sir Sidney Lee in French Renais- 
sance in England. Oxford, 1910. 



APPENDIX B 219 

GOFFE, T. 

Careless Shepherdess, The. London, 1656. 

Ghazzini, Antonio Francesco. 

Gelosia, La. Described by Klein. 

Parentadi, I. Described by Klein. 

Greene, R. The Plays and Poems of. Ed. J. C. Collins. 2 vols. 
Oxford, 1905. 

Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay. 

George a Greene, or the Pinner of Wakefield. 

James IV. 

Orlando Furioso. 

GUARINI, BATTISTA. 

Pastor Fido, II. Tr. by Sir Richard Fanshawe. London, 

1676 (?). 
Halevt. See Meilhac and Hal6vy. 
Harding, S. 

Sicily and Naples. 

Hathway, R. 

Oldcastle, First Part of Sir John. (With collaborators.) See 

Munday. 
Haughton, W. 
Englishmen for My Money, or a Woman Will Have her Will. 

Dodsley, x. 
Hatjsted, P. 

Rival Friends, The. London, 1632. 

Hawkesworth, W. 

Labyrinthus. Described by Churchill and Keller. 

Heywood, T. The Dramatic Works of. 6 vols. London, 1874. 

Brazen Age, The. 

Challenge for Beauty, The. 

/ Edward IV. 

Fair Maid of the Exchange, The. 

/ Fair Maid of the West, The. 

Four Prentices of London, The. 

Golden Age, The. 

Silver Age, The. 

Wise Woman of Hogsdon, The. 



220 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

Heywood, T. 

Woman Killed with Kindness, A . 

Hill, A. 

Henry V. London, 1723. 

Jonson, B. The Works of. Boston, 1854. 

Alchemist, The. Ed. C. H. Hathaway, Jr. New York, 1903. 

Bartholomew Fair. Ed. C. S. Alden. New York, 1903. 

Case is Altered, The. 

Devil is an Ass, The. Ed. W. S. Johnson. New York, 1905. 

Epicame. Ed. Aurelia Henry. New York, 1906. 

Every Man in His Humour. Ed. H. B. Wheatley. London, 

1877. 

New Inn, The. Ed. G. B. Tennant. New York, 1908. 

Sad Shepherd, The. 

Staple of News, The. Ed. De Winter. New York, 1905. 

Volpone. Ed. H. B. Wilkins. Paris, 1906. 

Widow, The. (Attributed to "Jonson, Middleton, and 

Fletcher.") In Bullen's Middleton. 
Kennedy, C. R. 

Servant in the House, The. New York, 1908. 

Kyd, T. The Works of. Ed. F. S. Boas. Oxford, 1901. 

Soliman and Perseda. 

Spanish Tragedy, The. 

Lamb, C. The Works of. Ed. E. V. Lucas. London, 1903-05. 

John Woodvil. 

Larivey, Pierre. Plays described by Macgillivray. 

Fidelle, he. 

Laquais, he. 

Morfondu, he. 

Tromperies. hes. 

Lavigne, Andre de. 

Farce du Munyer, ha. See Lacroix. 

Lobeira, Vasco. 

Amadis of Gaul. Tr. by R. Southey. 3 vols. London, 

1872. 
Lodge, T. 
Rosalynde. Ed. W. W. Greg. London, 1907. 



APPENDIX B 221 

Lyly, J. Works of. Ed. R. W. Bond. Oxford, 1902. 

Gallathea. 

Mother Bombie. 

Woman in the Moon, The. 

Lyndsay, Sir David. Poetical Works of. 2 vols. Edinburgh, 
1871. 

Satire of the Three Estates, A. 

Machiavelli, Niccolo. Commedie Terzine. (Opere, vol. 6) 
Cosmopoli, 1769. 

Mandragola. 

Clizia. 

Machin, L. See Markham. 

Mariano 

Pieta d'Amore. Described by Creizenach. 

Markham, G. 

Dumb Knight, The. (With Machin) Dodsley, x. 

Marlowe, C. Works of. Ed. A. H. Bullen. 3 vols. Boston, 
1885. 

Faustus, Doctor. 

Jew of Malta, The. 

Marmion, S. Dramatic Works of. Edinburgh, 1875. 

Antiquary, The. 

Fine Companion, A. 

Marston, J. Works of. Ed. A. H. Bullen. London, 1887. 

Antonio and Mellida. 

Antonio's Revenge. 

Dutch Courtesan, The. 

Jack Drum's Entertainment. In Simpson's School of Shake- 
speare, ii. 

Malcontent, The. 

Parasitaster, or the Fawn. 

What You Will. 

Massinger, P. Works of. Ed. W. Gifford. 4 vols. London, 1813. 

■ Bashful Lover, The. 

Bondman, The. 

City Madam, The. 

Duke of Milan, The. 



222 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

Massingee, P. 

Emperor of the East, The. 

Very Woman. 

Masuccio. (Salernitano) The Novellino. Tr. by W. G. Waters. 
2 vols. London, 1895. 

Novel 11. 

Novel 12. 

Novel 28. 

Novel 33. 

Novel 35. 

Novel 39. 

Novel 40. 

Novel 43. 



May, T. 

Heir, The. Dodsley, xi. 

Mayne, J. 

City Match, The. Dodsley, xiii. 

Meilhac and Halevy. Theatre de Meilhac et Halevy, Paris, n. d. 

Tricoche et Cacolet. 

Menander. Four Plays of. Ed. E. Capps. Boston, n. d. 

Epitrepontes. 

Hero, The. 

Periceiromene. 

Samia. 

Mercati, Francesco. 

Lanzi, I. Described by Stiefel. Jahrbuch, xxxv. 

Middleton, T. The Works of. Ed. A. H. Bullen. 8 vols. London, 
1885-86. 

Anything for a Quiet Life. 

Blurt, Master Constable. 

Family of Love, The. 

I and II Honest Whore. See Dekker. 

Mad World, My Masters, A. 

Michaelmas Term. 

More Dissemblers besides Woman. 

No Wit, No Help Like a Woman's. 

Phoenix, The. 



APPENDIX B 223 

MlDDLETON, T. 

Widow, The (Attributed to "Jonson, Fletcher, and Mid- 

dleton"). 

Your Five Gallants. 

Moliere, Jean Baptiste Poquelin. The Dramatic Works of. 

Tr. by C. H. Wall. 3 vols. London, 1891-1901. 

Amour Medecin, V. 

Amphitryon. 

Depit Amoureux, he. 

Malade Imaginaire, Le. 

Medecin Volant, Le. 

M. de Pourceaugnac. 

"Molina, Tirso, de " (Tellez. G.) Comediasde. 2 vols. Madrid, 

1906-07. 

Amor Medico, El. Described by Schack. 

Averigiielo Vargas. Described by Bourland. 

Don Gil de las Colzas Verdes. Ed. by B. P. Bourland. New 

York, 1901. 

Huerta de Juan Fernandez, La. Described by Schack. 

Mujer por Fuerza, La. 

Quien Hablo, Pago. 

Villana de la Sagra, La. Described by Bourland. 

Villana de Vallecas, La. Tr. by A. Royer. Paris, 1863. 



Molnar, F. 

Devil, The. Adapted by 0. Herford. New York, 1908. 

MONTEMAYOR, JORGE DE 

Diana, La. In Hazlitt's Shakespeare's Library, vol. i. 

Mundat, A. 

Fidele and Fortunio. Repr. by M alone Society, 1910. 

John a Kent and John a Cumber. In Shak. Soc, 1851. 

■ Oldcastle, First Part of Sir John. (With Drayton, Wilson, 

and Hathway.) Ed. C. F. T. Brooke, Shakespeare Apoc- 
rypha, 1908. 

Robert, Earl of Huntington, The Downfall of. (With Chettle) 

Dodsley, viii. 

Nash, T. Works of. Ed. A. B. Grosart. 6 vols. 1883-85. 

Unfortunate Traveller, The. 



224 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

d'Oddi, Sforza. 

Morti Vivi, I. Described by Becker. See Appendix A. 

Otway, T. 

Caius Marius. 

Ovid. Metamorphoses. Tr. by J. Dryden and Others. New York, 

1837. 

Book IX. 

Painter, W. The Palace of Pleasure. Ed. J. Jacobs. 3 vols. 

London, 1890. 

Tome I, Novel 88. 

Tome I, Novel 66. 

Parabosco, Girolamo. 

Fantesca, La. Described by Creizenach. 

Hermafrodit, L'. Described by Klein. 

Viluppo, II. Described by Klein. 

Pasqualigo, Luigi 

Fedele, II. See Munday's adaptation, Fidele and Fortunio. 

Peele, G. The Works of. Ed. A. H. Bullen. 2 vols. London, 

1888. 

Edward I. 

Petronius Arbiter 

Satyricon, he. Tr. de L. Tailhade. Paris, 1902. 

PlCCOLOMINI, ALESSANDRO 

Alessandro. See Chapman's adaptation, May Day. 

Ortensio. Described by Klein. 

Plautus. Comedies of. Tr. by R. T. Hiley. 2 vols. London, 
1852. 

Amphitruo. 

Asinaria. 

Bacchides. 

Captivi. 

Casina. 

Cistellaria. 

Epidicus. 

Mencechmi. 

Mercator. 

Miles Gloriosus. 



appendix b 225 

Plautus. 

Mostellaria. 

Persa. 

Pseudolus. 

Rudens. 

Stichus. 

Trinummus. 

Porta, G. B. della. Commedie. 4 vols. Naples, 1726. 

Astrologo, U. 

Cintia, La. 

Fantesca, La. 

Preston, T. 

Cambyses. Dodsley, iv. 

Rajasekhara 

Viddha- s aid- bhanjika. Tr. by L. H. Gray. In Jour. Am. 

Or. Soc, xxvii, 1906. 
Rich, B. His Farewell to Militarie Profession. Shak. Soc, 1846. 

Apolonius and Silla. See Luce, Appendix A. 

Phylotus and Emelia. 

Rickets, J. 

Byrsa Basilica. Described by Churchill and Keller. 

Rotrou. 

Deux Sosies, Les. Described by Reinhardstottner. 

Rowley, S. 

When You See Me You Know Me. Ed. K. Elze. Dessau and 

London, 1874. 
Rowley, W. 

Match at Midnight, A . Dodsley, xiii. 

Witch of Edmonton, The. (With Dekker and Ford.) See 

Ford. 
Rueda, Lope de. Obras de. 2 vols. Madrid, 1895-96. 

Enganos, Los. 

Medora. 

"RUZZANTE," (ANGELO BeOLCO). 

Anconitana, L'. Described by Klein. 

Moschetta. Described by Creizenach. 



Salernitano. See Masuccio. 



226 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

Secchi (or Secco), Nicolo. 

Camariera, La. Described by Klein. 

Inganni, GV. Described by Klein. 

Interesse, L'. Described by Klein. 

Shakespeare, W. The First Folio Edition. Ed. Charlotte Porter 

and Helen Clarke. Boston. 

All's Well that Ends Well. 

As You Like It. 

Comedy of Errors, The. 

Cymbeline. 

II Henry IV. 

Henry V. 

King Lear. 

Love's Labor's Lost. 

Measure for Measure. 

Merchant of Venice, The. 

Merry Wives of Windsor, The. 

Midsummer-Night's Dream, A . 

Much Ado About Nothing. 

Romeo and Juliet. 

Taming of the Shrew, The. 

Titus Andronicus. 

Twelfth Night. 

Two Gentlemen of Verona, The. 

Two Noble Kinsmen, The. (With Fletcher) 

Winter's Tale, The. 

Sharpham, E. 

Cupid's Whirligig. London, 1607. 

Fleire, The. Ed. H. Nibbe. Materialen, 1912. 

Sheridan, R. B. The Dramatic Works of. Oxford, 1906. 

Critic, The. 

Scheming Lieutenant, The. 

Shirley, J. Dramatic Works. Ed. W. Gifford and A. Dyce. 6 vols. 

London, 1833. 

Arcadia. 

Doubtful Heir, The. 

Grateful Servant, The. 



APPENDIX B 227 

Shirley, J. 

Hyde Park. 

Imposture, The. 

Love in a Maze, The Changes, or. 

Love Tricks. 

Maid's Revenge, The. 

Royal Master, The. 

Sisters, The. 

Wedding, The. 

Sidney, Sir Philip 

Arcadia, The Countess of Pembroke's. Ed. E. A. Baker. 

London, 1907. 
Skelton, J. 
Magnyfycence. Ed. R. L. Ramsey. London, 1908. (E. E. 

T. S. Extra Series No. 98.) 
Smith, W. 

Hector of Germany. Ed. L. W. Payne. Philadelphia, 1906. 

Somadeva. See Brockhaus, Appendix A. 

Kirtisena, The Story of. 

Sophocles. Tragedies. Tr. by Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge, 

1904. 

Electra. 

- — Philoctetes. 

Straparola. The Nights. Tr. by W. G. Waters. 2 vols. London, 

1894. 

Night I, Novel 5. 

Night IV, Novel 1. 

Sri-Harsha-Deva 

Ratnavali. Tr. by Wilson. See Appendix A. 

Steele, R. Plays. London, 1894. 

Conscious Lovers, The. 

Funeral, or Grief a la Mode, The. 

Tender Husband, The. 

Tailor, R. 

Hog Hath Lost his Pearl. Dodsley, xi. 

Tasso, Torquato. 

Aminta. Tr. by F. Whitmore. Springfield, 1900. 



228 DISGUISE PLOTS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 

Terence. The Comedies of. Tr. by H. T. Riley. London, 
1853. 

Adelphi. 

Andria. 

Eunuchus. 

Heautontimorumenos. 



Tomkins, T. 

Albumazar. Dodsley, xi. 

Lingua. Dodsley, ix. 

Tourneuk, C. 

Revenger's Tragedy, The. Dodsley, x. 

Vega, Lope de. Obras. 13 vols. Madrid, 1890-1902. 

Alcalde Mayor, El. Described by Hennigs. 

Ausente en el Lugar, El. Described by Hennigs. 

Batuecas del Duque de Alba, Las. Vol. xi. 

Bella Mai Maridada, La. Described by Wurzbach. 

Burlas y Enredos de Benito, Las. Described by Wurzbach. 

Domine Lucas, El. Described by Wurzbach. 

Gallarda Toledana, La. Described by Hennigs. 

Ginoves Liberal, El. Described by Wurzbach. 

Hidalgo Bencerraje, El. Vol. xi. 

Ilustre Fregona, La. Described by Hennigs. 

Ingrato Arrepentido, El. Described by Hennigs. 

Maestro de Danzar, El. Described by Hennigs. 

Mas Pueden Celos que Amor. Described by Hennigs. 

Mejor Alcalde el Rey, El. Vol. viii. 

Peregrino en su Patria, El. 

Quien Mas no Puede. Described by Hennigs. 

Ramirez de Arellano, Los. Vol. ix. 

Soldado Amante, El. Described by Hennigs. 

Virues, Cristobal de. 

Semiramis, La Gran. Described by Klein. 

VlSAKHADATTA. 

Mudraraksasa. Tr. by Wilson. See Appendix A. 

Webster, J. The Dramatic Works of. Ed. W. Hazlitt. London, 

1857. 
Westward Ho. (With Dekker) 



APPENDIX B 229 

Whetstone, G. 

/ Promus and Cassandra: In Hazlitt's Shakespeare's Library. 

London, 1875, vol. 6. 

II Promus and Cassandra. See above. 

Heptameron, The. Day IV, Novel 1. 

Wilson, R. 

Cobbler's Prophecy, The. Repr. Jahrbuch, xxxiii, 1897. 

Oldcastle, First Part of Sir John. (With collaborators.) See 

Munday. 

Three Lords and Three Ladies of London. Dodsley, vi. 

Wotton, Sir Henry 

Courtlie Controuersie, A. In Sarrazin's Thomas Kyd und sein 

Kreis. Berlin, 1892. 
Wtcherly, W. Plays. London, n. d. 

Country Wife, The. 

Gentleman Dancing Master, The. 

Plain Dealer, The. 



INDEX 



Acharnians, The, 12 n., 33, 213 
Acting of disguise parts, 17, 18, 
21 ff., 75, 117, 146, 147, 168, 
169, 201-2; vocal mimicry, 27; 
doubles, 28-29; multi-disguise, 
121 ff., 201; see also Dialect, 
Stammering, Boy actors, The- 
atrical, and Undisguising. 
Admiral's Men, The, 121, 123, 

127, 132, 137 
Adelphi, 35, 227 
^Eschylus, 31, 34 
Albion Knight, 20 n., 211 
Albumazar, 14, 31, 57, 186 n., 228 
Alcalde Mayor, El, 55, 228 
Alcestis, 148 n., 217 
Alchemist, The, 23, 26, 27, 117, 220 
Alessandro, 47 n., 87, 192 n., 224 
All's Well That Ends Well, 41, 226 
Amadis of Gaul, 109 n., 220 
Amends for Ladies, 95, 190, 191, 

206, 217 
Aminta, 73 n., 227 
Amphitruo, 28 n., 29, 38, 199, 224; 
influence, 36, 50, 57, 178, 182 ff ., 
187 n. 
Amphitryon, Dryden's, 187 n., 217 
Amphitryon, Moliere's, 187 n., 223 
Amor, Honor y Poder, 26 n., 54, 

215 
Amor Medico, El, 55, 223 
Amour Medicin, V , 192 n., 223 
Anconitana, L', 47 n., 225 



Andria, 35, 228 

Antonio and Mellida, 78, 109, 145, 

221 
Antonio's Revenge, 172 n., 221 
Antiquary, The, 98 n., 118, 221 
Anything for a Quiet Life, 85, 

98 n., 222 
Apolonius and Silla, 61, 74, 208, 

225 
Arcadia, The, 62, 92, 93, 109, 

195, 207, 227 
Arcadia, Shirley's, 109 n., 226 
Arrenopia, 47 n., 67 n., 216 
Aristophanes, 12 n., 33 
Asinaria, 36, 224 
Astrologo, V, 186 n., 225 
As You Like It, 24, 28, 29, 71, 

72-3, 199, 226; performance of, 

17; parallel, 54, 72 n., 73 n., 78; 
dialog in, 66, 76 
Ausente en el Lugar, El, 56, 143, 

228 
Averigiielo Vargas, 55 n., 223 

Bacchce, 32-3, 217 
Bacchides, 35, 224 
Ballads, Disguise in, 2 n., 68, 132, 

141, 201 
Ballad of Gude Wallace, The, 132 n., 

211 
Bandello, 42, 44, 46, 178, 214 
Bartholomew Fair, 16, 220; source, 

161, 171, 173-5 
231 



232 



INDEX 



Bashful Lover, The, 73 n., 98 n., 

118, 221 
Batuecas del Duque de Alba, Las, 

55, 228 
Beard of supposed woman, 49 n., 

105-6, 119 
Beating by a supposed woman, 

49 n., 106-7, 113, 142 
Beaumont and Fletcher, 58, 84, 

98, 117, 157, 190 
Beggars' Bush, The, 136, 214 
Beggar's Daughter of Bednal Green, 

The, 132, 211 
Bella Mai Marida, La, 56, 228 
Birth of Hercules, The, 28, 57, 

184, 185, 209, 211 
Blind Beggar of Alexandria, The, 

25, 26, 121, 123, 126, 127-8, 144, 

202, 216 
Blind Beggar of Bednal Green, 

The, 24, 25, 122, 126, 132-3, 

142, 216 
Blindness, Pretended, 25, 127, 

151 n. 
Blurt, Master Constable, 91 n., 222 
Boy actors, 22, 27, 102, 121, 201 
Boy bride motive, The, Chapter 

V, 44, 45, 82 n., 199; defined, 

3, 200; Italian, 47-8, 49 n., 

101; French, 52; Spanish, 53; 

Sanskrit, 57 n.; Supposed: see 

Retro-disguise. 
Bondman, The, 118, 221 
Brazen Age, The, 108, 219 
Burlas y Enredos de Benito, Las, 

55 n., 228 
Byrsa Basilica, 62, 67, 103, 107, 225 

Caius Marius, 59, 223 
Calandria, La, 45, 48, 49, 124, 
188, 214 



Camariera, La, 189, 225 
Cambises, 166, 225 
Capitani Simili, Li Due, 52 n., 211 
Capitano, II, 51 n., 211 
Captain, The, 16, 156, 159, 214 
Captivi, 9, 36, 37-8, 224 
Careless Shepherdess, The, 118, 219 
Case is Altered, The, 20 n., 220 
Casina, 36, 37 n., 38, 101, 105, 

114, 199, 224 
Cassina, 48, 214 
Cato, 59, 183 n., 213 
Cenobia, La Gran, 54, 215 
Challenge for Beauty, The, 98 n., 

219 
Change of names, 18-20 
Chapman, 14, 15, 20, 58, 87, 

145 ff. 
Character development in disguise 

plots, 5, 44, 51, 61 n., 175, 179, 

203; in Shakespeare, 68-75, 

98-9, 199, 203 
Choephori, 31-2, 213 
Cingana, La, 192 n., 218 
Cintia, La, 47 n., 48, 81, 189, 225 
Cistellaria, 35, 224 
City Madam, The, 25, 221 
City Match, 118, 222 
City Night Cap, The, 141 n., 216 
City Wit, The, 118, 134 n., 215 
Clizia, 48, 221 
Cobbler's Prophecy, The, 20 n., 

229 
Common Conditions, 20 n., 211 
Comedy of Errors, The, 2, 10, 74, 

226 
Commedia dell' arte, The, 8, 51-2, 

124, 125, 191, 192 n. 
Comte d' Artois, 41, 211 
Conscious Lovers, The, 59, 186 n., 

227 



INDEX 



233 



Costumes of disguise parts, 21-3, 

26, 127, 160, 202; female page, 

21-2; lover as girl, 191; ama- 

zon, 109, 189; doctor, 26 n., 

191-2; friar, 19, 23, 126, 127, 

141, 165, 168, 169, 193; old 

sailor, 26, 151, 153, 157; old 

soldier, 23, 25, 26, 132, 134, 156; 

Spaniard, 23, 190; American 

Indian, 25; Conventional, 23; 

Special, 23; see also Exchange, 

and Make-up. 

Country Wife, The, 59, 229 

Courtlie Controuersie, A, 66, 229 

Coxcomb, The, 58, 95, 148, 150, 

214 
Creduta Morta, La, 52 n., 211 
Critic, The, 59, 226 
Cromwell, Thomas Lord, 91 n., 

211 
Cupid's Revenge, 91, 92-3, 207, 

214 

Cupid's Whirligig, 136, 194, 226 

Curioso Impertinente, El, 147, 216 

Cymbeline, 28, 71, 79-80, 226; 

source, 42, 57, 73; parallel, 64 n., 

80 n.; dialog, 77 

Damoiselle, 98 n., 215 

Deafness, Pretended, 3 

Death, False report of, 144-5, 

147, 152, 156, 157, 159, 173 
Decameron, The, 41, 42, 64 n., 

80 n., 88 n., 119, 141 n., 145 n., 

188, 193 n., 214-15 
Denouement in disguise plays, 

The, 19, 33, 65, 74, 83, 86, 116, 

117, 118, 131, 157, 172, 174; 

see also Doubles, Surprise, and 

Undisguising. 
Depit Amoureux, Le, 47 n., 223 



Deserving Favorite, The, 78, 9S n., 

118, 215 
Desguisez, Les, 122, 218 
Desgyses, The, 122, 211 
Deus ex machina, 65, 84 n., 201 
Deux Sosies, Les, 187 n., 225 
Devil, The, 59, 223 
Devil is an Ass, The, 23, 190, 220 
Devocion de la Cruz, La, 54, 215 
Dialect in disguise plays, 27, 148, 

196 
Dialog in disguise plays, 15, 65-6, 
75-8, 84, 133, 153, 170, 180, 
202 
Diana, La, 46, 53, 62, 68-9, 223 
Diphilus, 35, 36 

Disguise motive, The; studies of, 
In.; defined, 2-3, 6, 7, 11, 33; 
subdivision, 3-4; origin and 
extent, Chapter III; traditional, 
200-1; popularity in England, 
1, 201-2; technic, Chapter II, 
199-200; burlesqued, 78, 97; 
see also Blindness, Change of 
names, Deafness, Doubles, 
Eavesdropping, Exchange of 
costumes, Impersonation, Mis- 
representation, Masks, Meta- 
morphosis, Muffling, Pretended 
disguise, Retro-disguise, Sub- 
stitution, Shifting, Supposed 
disguise, Symbolized disguise, 
Twin motive, and Undisguising 
Disguise within disguise, 26 n., 54 
Doctor, The, 26, 125, 150, 191-2, 

200 
Doctor Disperato, II, 52 n., 211 
Domine Lucas, El, 55, 181 n., 228 
Don Gil de las Colzas Verdes, 55, 

223 
Dos Donzellas, Las, 53, 96, 216 



234 



INDEX 



Double Dealer, The, 59, 216 
Doubles, The motive of, 10-11, 

27, 49 n., 57, 74, 131, 178-87; 

acting of, 28-9, 60 
Doubtful Heir, The, 98 n., 226 
Duke of Milan, The, 98 n., 221 
Dumb Knight, The, 58, 90, 108, 

147, 150, 221 
Dumb show, 20 n. 
Dutch Courtesan, The, 58, 135, 221 

Eastward Ho, 185 n. 
Eavesdropping, 2 
Ecclesiazusoe, 33-4, 213 
Economy, Dramatic, 15, 68, 69, 

146, 159, 160, 180, 181 
Edward I, 140-1, 149, 150, 163 n., 

168 n., 207, 209, 224 
/ Edward IV, 162 n., 196 n., 219 
Electra, 32, 144, 227 
Emperor of the East, The, 141 n., 

221 
Enganos, Los, 47, 53, 225 
Englishmen for My Money, 79, 

108, 189, 219 
English Moor, The, 98 n., 215 
Epicaene, 3, 8, 24, 84, 101, 102-3, 

207, 220; source, 57, 112, 114, 

200; parallel, 95, 110, 111; 

surprise in, 13, 79, 84-5, 115- 

17, 202; stage history, 21 n., 

117 
Epidicus, 35 n., 224 
Epitrepontes, 35 n., 222 
Errore, V, 48 n., 189, 218 
Espanola de Florencia, La, 47, 54, 

73, 208, 215 
Eunuchus, 35, 36, 38, 178, 199, 227 
Euripides, 31, 33, 34 
Every Man in His Humour, 8, 

133, 220 



Exchange of costumes, The, 8, 27, 
34, 38, 44, 54, 56, 91, 104, 107, 
108 n., 123, 129-32, 134, 178, 
201 

Fabliaux, 177 

Fair Em, 161, 195, 196, 197, 211 

Fair Maid of Bristow, The, 90, 

169 n., 211 
Fair Maid of the Exchange, The, 

28, 187, 205, 219 
/ Fair Maid of the West, The, 

98 n., 219 
Faithful Friends, The, 96, 136, 

149, 150, 211 
Family of Love, The, 134, 222 
Fantesca, della Porta's, 48, 49-51, 

188, 225 
Fantesca, Parabosco's, 47 n., 224 
Faustus, Doctor, 168 n., 221 
Fawn, Parasitaster, or the, 154, 

155, 163-8, 169, 171, 172, 221 
Farce de Munyer, La, 53 n., 220 
Fedele, II, 53, 193, 224 
Felix and Philomena, 68, 211 
Female page motive, The, Chapter 
IV; defined, 3, 40, 199; Hindoo, 
40; Sanskrit, 40 n.; French ro- 
mances, 40, 41-2; Icelandic, 41; 
Italian novelle, 39, 42-4; Italian 
drama, 39, 45-7, 201; commedia 
dell' arte, 51-2; French drama, 
52-3; Spanish, 53-5; in real life, 
61; after 1616 in English drama, 
59, 98 n.; see also Boy actors, 
and Costume. 
Fidele and Fortunio, 53, 193, 223 
Fiddle, Le, 53, 220 
Fidi Amid, Li Tre, 51 n., 212 
Fidi Notari, Li Due, 52 n., 212 
Fine Companion, A, 192 n., 221 



INDEX 



235 



Finta Pazza, La, 51 n., 52 n., 212 
Fleire, The, 90, 134, 154-5, 157, 

159, 226 
Fletcher, 58, 95, 119; see also 

Beaumont. 
Force of Love, The, 170 n. 
Fortuna di Flavio, La, 51 n. 212 
Fortunio, 47 n., 218 
Four Prentices of London, The, 78, 

82, 156 n., 219 
French drama, 52-3; see also 

titles. 
French romances, 40, 140, 141, 201 
Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay 

58, 196, 197, 219 

Frogs, The, 9, 34-5, 38, 178, 213 
Funeral, or Grief a la Mode, The, 

59, 144 n., 227 

Gallarda Toledana, La, 55 n., 228 
Gallathea, 10, 57, 64-6, 67, 73, 

103, 220 
Gelosia, La, 49, 53, 191, 219 
Geloso, II, 49, 191, 214 
Gentleman Dancing Master, The, 

180 n., 229 
George a Greene, or the Pinner of 

Wakefield, 24, 91 n., 107-8, 

126 n., 161-2, 219 
George a Greene, The Famous 

History of, 107, 211 
Ginoves Liberal, El, 55 n., 228 
Golden Age, The, 189, 219 
Grateful Servant, The, 73 n., 88, 

98 n., 226 
Greek Drama, 31-6, 38; see also 

Masks, and titles. 
Greene, 10, 58, 67, 196 
Grim, the Collier of Croyden, 191, 

212 
Gui de Nanteuil, see Tristan. 



Heautontimorumenos, 35, 227 
Heccatommithi, 63, 67 n., 161, 216 
Hector of Germany, 119, 227 
Heir, The, 98 n., 222 
II Henry IV, 169 n., 226 
Henry V (Aaron Hill's), 73 n., 220 
Henry V, 161 n., 226 
Heptameron, Whetstone's, 119, 

229 
Hermafrodit, U, 178, 224 
Hero, The, 35 n., 222 
Hidalgo Bencerraje, El, 55, 228 
Hindoo tales, 40; see also Sanskrit. 
Hog Hath Lost His Pearl, 96, 227 
Hollander, The, 77 n., 98 n., 218 
Honest Man's Fortune, 14, 97, 

185 n., 208, 218 
J Honest Whore, The, 90, 169 n., 

217 
II Honest Whore, The, 26, 199, 

217; parallel, 151, 152-4, 159 
Humour Out of Breath, 156, 159, 

216 
Huerta de Juan Fernandez, La, 55, 

223 
Hyde Park, 150, 226 
Hymenceus, 192, 193 n., 218 

/ leronimo, 16, 64 n., 182, 185, 

206, 212 
Ilustre Fregona, Cervantes's, 56, 

216 
Ilustre Fregona, Lope de Vega's, 

56, 194, 228 
Imperiale, 183 n., 218 
Impersonation, 20, 37, 50, 54, 60, 

121, 123, 128, 131, 133, 182 ff., 

200 
Imposture, The, 98 n., 226 
Incantesimi, GV, 185 n., 215 
Indian, The American, 25 



236 



INDEX 



Ingannati, GV , 44, 45-7, 53, 66, 

71, 185 n., 212 
Inganni, GV, 46, 53, 225 
Ingrato Arrepentido, El, 55 n., 228 
Interesse, V , 47 n., 225 

Irony, Dramatic, 15; poetic, 15; 
comic, 16, 34, 65, 71, 72, 74, 
75 ff., 80, 86, 133, 161, 165, 
169, 175, 181, 192; tragic, 16, 
157 
Isle of Gulls, The, 109-10, 189, 217 
Italian drama, 38, 39, 44-52, 71, 
81, 112, 139, 188, 191, 197, 201, 
203; see also Commedia dell' 
arte, and titles. 

Jack Drum's Entertainment, 142, 

221 
Jack Juggler, 20 n., 29 n., 57, 212 
James IV, 10, 71 n., 219; source, 

47 n., 57, 67; parallel, 67, 69, 

72, 73 

Jew, The, 71, 212 

Jew of Malta, The, 170, 221 

John a Kent and John a Cumber, 

121, 123, 125-6, 223 
John Woodvil, 72 n., 220 
Jonson, Ben, 2, 13, 29, 51, 84, 88, 

98, 117, 184, 199; dependence, 

102, 112, 114, 133, 145, 159, 

161, 171, 173-6 
Joseph de las Mugeres, El, 54, 215 

King Horn, 145 n., 212 

King Lear, 25, 27, 136, 199, 226; 

source, 58, 158-9 
King heir, The Chronicle History 

of, 158, 195, 197, 212 
Kirtisena, The Story of, 40, 227 
Knack to Know an Honest Man, A, 

161, 212 



Knack to Know a Knave, A, 91 n., 
161, 173, 212 

Laberinto de Amor, El, 53, 124, 216 

Labyrinthus, 47 n., 81-2, 110-11, 
189, 219 

Lcelia, 47, 66, 67, 212 

Lanzi, I, 192 n., 222 

Laquais, he, 52, 220 

Law Tricks, 108, 155, 159, 217 

Lingua, 25 n., 228 

London Prodigal, The, 26, 27, 59, 
145, 148, 149 n., 151-4, 160, 
212; influence, 151 ff., 159 

Look About You, 9, 11, 24, 25, 26, 
27, 91 n., 109, 122, 126, 128- 
32, 169 n., 186 n., 199, 200, 212 

Lost Lady, The, 146 n., 214 

Love in a Maze, 88, 119 n., 226 

Love Tricks, 72 n., 98 n., 119 n., 
226 

Lover, The disguised, Chapter 
VIII, 36, 44, 59, 200; Italian, 
45, 48, 49 n., 51-2, 177-8; 
Spanish, 55-6; as girl, 178, 
188-91, 200; impersonating, 
178, 182-7, 188, 200; tricked, 
178, 192-4; noble lover in 
lowly disguise, 178, 194-7 

Lover's Melancholy, The, 73 n., 
88, 98 n., 218 

Love's Cure, 91, 214 

Love's Labor's Lost, 177, 226 

Love's Pilgrimage, 53, 57, 96, 218 

Loyal Subject, The, 65 n., 118, 218 
Lusty Juventus, 20 n., 212 
Lyly, 10, 64, 65, 199; dialog, 15, 
65, 67, 75 

Mad Couple Well Matched, A, 
98 n., 215 



INDEX 



237 



Mad World, My Masters, A, 16 n., 

22, 24, 111, 136, 191, 222 
Maestro de Danzar, Calderon's, 

180 n., 215 
Maestro de Danzar, Lope de 

Vega's, 55, 180 n., 228 
Magnificence, 5, 18, 23, 168 n., 

227 
Magus saga, 41, 212 
Maid's Metamorphosis, The, 92, 217 
Maid's Revenge, The, 98 n., 227 
Maid's Tragedy, The, 22, 26, 66, 

91, 92, 214 
Make-up, 24-6, 29 n., 125, 127, 

129, 130, 202; see also Costume. 
Malade Imaginaire, Le, 180 n., 

223 
Malatl and Madhavi, 57 n., 214 
Malcontent, The, 8, 27, 59, 162-9, 

199, 221; source, 143, 163 n.; 

parallel, 145, 154, 162 ff.; 

171-2 
Mandragola, 191, 221 
Marescalco, II, 48, 213 
Marito, II, 51 n., 52 n., 212 
Marriage of Wit and Wisdom, The, 

19, 20, 21, 121, 125 n., 212 
Marston, 11, 14, 58, 163, 166, 169, 

174, 185, 186, 188 
Mas Pueden Celos que Amor, 

55 n., 228 
Masks, 3, 24, 125, 143; Greek, 

24 n., 28 
Masques, 102, 150, 164, 166, 167, 

168, 172, 177 
Masuccio, see Salernitano. 
Match at Midnight, A, 150 n., 225 
Match Me in London, 197 n., 217 
May Day, 14, 20, 25, 87-8, 106, 

107, 122, 169 n., 193, 216; 

source, 43, 47, 57, 87 



Measure for Measure, 16, 28, 142, 

160-72, 226; source, 160, 166- 

8, 201; parallel, 56, 154, 160-72; 

structure, 7, 8, 139, 168, 170 
Medecin Volant, Le, 37, 125, 223 
Medora, 53, 225 
Mejor Alcalde el Rey, 56, 228 
Mencechmi, 28 n., 45, 47, 224 
Menander, 35, 36 
Mercator, 35, 224 
Merchant of Venice, The, 8, 28, 

226; source, 42, 57, 70, 71, 76; 

parallel, 55, 78; dialog, 76 
Merry Devil of Edmonton, The, 

169 n., 217 
Merry Wives of Windsor, The, 

106, 112, 192, 226 
Metamorphoses, 57, 64, 224 
Metamorphosis of sex, 41, 24 n., 

64, 113 
Michcelmas Term, 136, 144, 150, 

154, 155, 157, 159, 222 
Midsummer Night's Dream, A, 

24, 226 
Middleton, 144, 145, 154, 174, 

175, 199 
Miles Gloriosus, 36, 37, 38, 124, 

224 
Mirmans saga, 41, 212 
Misrepresentation, 2, 35 n. 
Mistaken wooing, see Wooing the 

wrong sex. 
Mock marriage, 54, 57 n., 72 
Monolog scenes, 21, 63; see also 

Soliloquies. 
Monsieur de Pourceaugnac, 106 n., 

223 
Monsieur Thomas, 58, 106, 107, 

118, 190, 207, 209, 218 
Monstruo de los Jardines, El, 

188 n., 215 



238 



INDEX 



More Dissemblers Besides Women, 

98 n., 222 
Morfondu, he, 52, 220 
Morti Vivi, I, 185, 223 
Moschetta, 49, 139, 225 
Mostellaria, 35, 224 
Mother Bombie, 183 n., 221 
Mourning Bride, The, 59, 216 
Mucedorus, 168 n., 195, 197, 212 
Much Ado About Nothing, 58, 

187 n., 226 
Mudra-rakshasa, 57 n., 228 
Muffling, 56 

Mujer por Fuerza, La, 55 n., 223 
Multi-disguise, The rogue in, 

Chapter VI, 4, 7, 123, 155, 200 

New Custom, 20 n., 212 

New Inn, The, 12, 25, 98 n., 117 

209, 220; parallel, 56 n., 88 
Night Walker, The, 95-6, 118, 218 
No Wit, No Help Like a Woman's, 

96, 222 
Northern Lass, The, 26 n., 215 
Novelle, 39, 40, 140, 141, 177, 178, 

197, 201; see also titles, and 

authors. 

Old Fortunalus, 27, 217 
Oldcastle, I Sir John, 91, 162, 

173, 223 
Originality in English drama, 

58-9 
Orlando Furioso, Greene's, 58, 

105, 120, 219 
Ortensio, 47 n., 81, 224 

Palace of Pleasure, The, 42, 58, 

135 n., 224 
Parentadi, I, 47 n., 219 
Pastor Fido, II, 47 n., 73 n., 219 



Patient Grissil, 58, 217 

Pecorone, II, 42, 71, 78, 217 

Pellegrine, Le, 47 n., 185 n., 215 

Pellegrino Fido Amante, II, 51 n., 
52 n., 212 

Peregrino en su Patria, 136 n., 228 

Periceiromene, 35, 222 

Persa, 36, 224 

Philaster, 8, 22, 43, 59, 79, 93, 
98, 199, 213; source, 73; sur- 
prise in, 84-5, 86, 118, 202 

Philemon, 35, 36 

Philoctetes, 32, 227 

Philotus, 62, 64 n., 107, 112, 185 n., 
189, 212 

Phoenix, The, 170-1, 172, 173, 
222 

Phylotus and Emelia, 62, 112, 113, 
225 

Pidinzuolo, 106 n., 212 

Pieta d'Amore, 194 n., 221 

Pilgrim, The, 98 n., 136 n., 218 

Plain Dealer, The, 59, 73 n., 229 

Plautus, 2, 11, 35-8, 39, 44, 48, 
114, 120, 200, 201 

Play within the play, The, 16 n. 

Plot construction, 5 ff., 63, 79, 
86, 140, 153, 168, 179, 186; 
improved by disguise, 15, 80, 
84, 86, 87, 120, 152, 158, 160, 
201-2; overingenuity, 45, 54; 
see also Denouement, Disguise, 
Doubles, Economy, Monolog, 
Probability, Surprise, Shakes- 
peare, and Verisimilitude. 

Poor Man's Comfort, 119, 148, 
150, 216 

Pretended departure but actual 
remaining, 142 ff., 166 

Pretended disguise, 14, 97; see 
also Supposed disguise. 



INDEX 



239 



Probability, in disguise plots, 6, 
21, 24, 28; dramatic vs. abso- 
lute, 16-8; see also Verisi- 
militude. 

/ Promus and Cassandra, 21, 62, 
63, 67, 160-1, 166, 229 

II Promus and Cassandra, 21, 229 

Pseudolus, 36, 224 

Queen Eleanor's Confession, 141 n., 

212 
Quien Hablo, Pago, 55, 223 
Quien Mas No Puede, 55, 228 

Ragazzo, II, 47 n., 48, 52, 217 

Ram Alley, 94-5, 214 

Ramirez de Arellano, Los, 55 n., 

228 
Rare Triumphs of Love and For- 
tune, The, 27, 151 n., 212 
Ratnavali, 57 n., 227 
Recognition, 51, 84 n., 201 
Retro-disguise, 11, 53, 80-3, 200, 

201 
Revenger's Tragedy, The, 142, 

172 n., 228 
Rhesus, 32, 217 
Richard II, The Tragedy of, 172 n., 

212 
Rival Friends, The, 98 n., 118, 219 
Rival Ladies, The, 59, 217 
Rivali, I, 47 n., 215 
Robert, Earl of Huntington, The 

Downfall of, 25, 105, 151 n., 223 
Rogue, The, 4, 151, 161, 172, 173, 

174, 200; see also Multi-disguise 
Roi Flore et de la Belle Jehane, Du, 

41, 212 
Roman drama, 31, 38, 39, 167 n., 

177; see also titles. 
Romeo and Juliet, 43, 226 



Rosalynde, 72, 220 

Royal Master, The, 159 n., 227 

Rudeus, 36, 224 

Sad Shepherd, The, 29, 134 n., 220 

Salernitano, 42, 43, 178, 188, 189, 
222 

Samia, 35, 222 

Sanskrit drama, 40 n., 56 n., 81, 
88 n.; see also Hindoo. 

Satire of the Three Estates, A, 19, 
168 n., 221 

Satyricon, The, 145, 224 

Scheming Lieutenant, The, 59, 
192 n., 226 

Scornful Lady, The, 157, 159, 190, 
214 

Selva Confusa, La, 55, 208, 215 

Semiramis, La Gran, 53, 228 

Seneca, 36 

Servant in the House, The, 59, 220 

Seven Sages, Story of the, 188 n. 

Shakespeare, 4, 30, 180, 188, 199; 
independence, 58, 68 ff., 157, 
187; dependence, 62, 68 ff., 98, 
102, 160, 162, 163, 168, 176, 
180; dramaturgy, 68-75, 79, 
203; character development, 
68-75, 98-9, 199, 203; dialog, 
15, 66, 67, 75-8, 158, 170 

Shifting from one character into 
another, 8, 124, 154, 166, 167 n., 
201; see also Multi-disguise. 

Shoemaker's Holiday, The, 27, 
196, 197, 217 

Sicily and Naples, 98 n., 219 

Silver Age, The, 57, 183-4, 185, 219 

Silvia Errante, La, 192 n., 216 

Sir Clyomon and Sir Clamydes, 
58, 63, 67, 212; parallel, 70, 
72, 73, 94, 182, 185 



240 



INDEX 



Sir Orpheo, 161 n., 213 
Sisters, The, 98 n., 118, 227 
Soldade Amante, El, 55, 228 
Soliloquies of disguised persons, 

12 n., 84, 171 n.; see also 

Monolog. 
Soliman and Perseda, 58, 66, 67, 

70 n., 91, 92, 220 
Spanish drama, 53-6, 201; see 

also titles. 
Spanish Tragedy, The, 16 n., 220 
Specchio, La, 51 n., 213 
Sposa, La, 51 n., 213 
Spy in disguise, The, Chapter VII, 

3, 44, 52, 56, 57 n., 59, 199, 

200, 201; husband, 49, 59, 

140-150; wife, 148-9, 152; 

father, 140, 151-8; duke, 140, 

160-72 
Staging of disguise situations, 

18 ff.; see also Costume, Econ- 
omy, Make-up, and Theatrical. 
Stammering motive, The, 27, 

129, 186 
Staple of News, The, 117, 159, 220 
Stichus, 35, 225 
Straparola, 42, 43, 142, 227 
Substitution motive, The, 2, 41, 

81, 82, 110, 165, 195 
Supposed disguise, 14, 185, 200; 

see also Pretended disguise. 
Supposed girl locked up with a 

girl, 49 n. 
Supposes, The, 57, 178, 179, 181, 

185, 218 
Suppositi, I, 50, 122, 178, 213 
Surprise motive, The, 12-13, 79, 

83-9, 95, 103, 114-18, 201; 

dramaturgic value, 13, 114, 

117, 120, 200, 202 
Suspected disguise, 14, 87-8 



Swetnam, the Woman Hater, Ar- 
raigned by Women, 109, 193, 213 

Symbolized disguise, 19, 20 n., 
125 n. 

Talanta, La, 47 n., 213 

Taming of A Shrew, The, 104, 178, 
179-81, 185, 213 

Taming of the Shrew, The, 3, 10, 
16, 28, 74, 104, 188, 192, 200, 
209, 226; source, 57, 178, 179- 
81, 185 

Technic of disguise plots, see Plot 
construction. 

Tender Husband, The, 59, 227 

Terence, 35-6, 44 

Theatrical effectiveness of dis- 
guise, 5, 30, 33, 34, 35, 202; 
female page, 67, 69; boy bride, 
105, 106; multi-disguise, 124, 
137; spy, 139, 141, 147, 150, 
153, 157, 160, 163, 166, 168; 
lover, 194, 196; doubles, 11, 
36, 74, 182, 185, 187; surprise, 
86; dialog, 15, 75-8; see also 
Acting, and Economy. 

Thesmophoriazusoz, 34, 213 

Thracian Wonder, The, 101 n., 213 

Three Hours after Marriage, 59, 
218 

Three Lords and Three Ladies of 
London, 20 n., 125 n., 229 

Timon, 159, 213 

'Tis Pity She's a Whore, 150 n., 
218 

Titus Andronicus, 23, 226 

Tom Tyler and His Wife, 20, 213 

Tragici Successi, Li, 52 n., 213 

Travaglia, II, 47 n., 215 

Travagliata Isabella, La, 51 n., 213 

Tricoche et Cacolet, 137, 222 



INDEX 



241 



Trinummus, 35, 225 

Tristan de Nanteuil, 41-2, 64 n., 

213 
Triumph of Time, 25 n. 
Tromperies, Les, 53, 220 
Twelfth Night, 1, 2, 10, 15, 29, 70, 

71, 73-4, 226; source, 44, 45. 

47, 57, 61, 66, 73; parallel, 

45-6, 54, 73, 77, 88; typical 

female page plot, 40; dialog, 

65, 66, 76-7; Viola Allen's 

performance of, 17 n. 
Twin motive, The, 2, 74; fictitious 

twin, 37, 38, 49 n.; see also 

Mencechmi. 
Two Gentlemen of Verona, The, 

16, 26, 49, 61, 68-71, 226; 

source, 53, 57, 62, 68, 69, 70, 

73, 76; parallel, 46 n., 149, 152; 

dialog, 75-6 
Two Maids of Moreclacke, 108, 

136, 145, 213 
Two Noble Kinsmen, The, 187, 

226 

Undisguising, 10, 67, 68, 74, 158, 

169 
Unfortunate Traveller, The, 38 n., 

Ill n., 223 

Valiant Welshman, The, 162, 214 
Vecchio Geloso, II, 52 n., 213 
Veiled Allusion, see Dialog. 
Verisimilitude, 26, 60, 109, 202; 

see also Probability. 
Very Woman, 136 n., 221 
Vida es Sueno, La, 54, 215 
Viddha-s'-ala-bhanjika, 40 n., 56 n., 

225 
Villana de la Sagra, La, 55 n., 

223 



Villana de Vallecas, La, 55 n., 223 
Viluppo, II, 46, 81, 178, 224 
Volpone, 97, 144, 173 n., 192, 220 

Wars of Cyrus, The, 66, 67, 

91 n., 104, 107, 207, 213 
Wedding, The, 98 n., 118, 227 
Westward Ho, 109, 136, 142, 143, 

150, 217 
What You Will, 11, 14, 27, 111, 

188, 200, 221; source, 57, 185, 

205 
When You See Me You Know Me, 

162, 173, 225 
Whore of Babylon, The, 20 n., 217 
Widow, The, 58, 84, 88-9, 205, 222 
Widow's Tears, The, 15, 142, 

145-7, 150, 157, 216 
Winter's Tale, The, 58, 157-8, 

159, 226 
Wise Woman of Hogsdon, The, 

26, 59, 79, 82-3, 194, 219 
Witch of Edmonton, The, 98 n., 217 
Woman in the Moon, The, 106, 

141, 142 n., 150, 221 
Woman is a Weathercock, 26 n., 

136, 217 
Woman Killed with Kindness, A, 

147, 219 
Wonder of a Kingdom, The, 192 n., 

217 
Wooing the wrong sex, or mis- 
taken wooing, 40, 42, 43, 45, 

46, 49 n., 54, 55, 63 ff., 81, 86, 

89, 94, 102 ff.; see also Boy 

bride. 

Your Five Gallants, 172, 174, 222 

Zelotypus, 90, 142, 143, 150, 
164 n., 213 



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